


Shadows Of Our Past - a KILL la KILL story

by DanieD00



Category: Kill la Kill (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Comedy, Dark, Gen, Hope, Manga & Anime, Music
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:08:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 59,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24897445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DanieD00/pseuds/DanieD00
Summary: Embark on a new journey with Ryuko Matoi, set five years after the first KILL la KILL. The Life Fiber Sickness plagues 1/5th of humanity, including Ryuko and Satsuki, but with the arrival of the deadly Ichiro Harime, both sisters and even the mysterious revived Nui Harime have to fight back. But their foe knows everything about them, and the only way of defeating him is to overcome their shadows of the past. Time is running - for mankind, and for Ryuko...Includes artworks and music tracks to enhance your reading experience! This story discovers more about the Life Fibers, reveals brand new and exciting locations, covers up more of Ryuko, Satsuki's and especially Nui's past while keeping all characters in a believable way! A read you won't forget so easily, check it out if you like!
Kudos: 4





	1. Disclaimer

Good day,

my name is DanieD00. I'm writing this story as an attempt to make the best story I ever created, and which is more important, as an attempt to give the story of KILL la KILL a possible satisfying yet reasonable continuation. Chapters will appear in irregular intervals so it's possible that it might take a few weeks until a new chapter comes out, as they first have to be written in the original language. And since each chapter should be interesting and fun to read, this will take a while. The story itself will be a long one as each character should get a nice amount of development and details - some more, some less, depends on their role in the story.

Every once in a while, there will be links to certain music tracks or artworks - the artworks will be made by myself and show you each character so that you as the viewer can imagine them better. Music will be used to intensify battles, quiet and or emotional scenes, and I will try to explain areas as good as possible. I want you viewers to have fun and imagine situations in the story the way I do. I've heard from others already that this works really well and it's a lot of fun, so try it out if you read on the computer or laptop and let me know what you think! :)

A few last words: This story is a bit darker than the original KILL la KILL arc, however it will have emotional and fun moments, some humor too and some scenes will simply be epic without being too overloaded with action. If everything works out the way I want, this is gonna be a great story, trust me. Never lose your hope no matter how dark this story can be at some points - and trust me, there's gonna be some heavy stuff. But for now...

... let's start the story with a little meadow during winter.


	2. Chapter 1: The Seed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryuko and Mako are having a fun little day while it's snowing. When they get back to their home though, everything suddenly starts to become a nightmare. And then, Ryuko is drawn back into the real world...

It's been five years since the end of the battle against REVOCS. But even now, life fibers plague the world. One fifth of the world suffers from the Life Fiber Plague. Despite the plague, humanity tries to continue live as before. There is no cure.

What humanity doesn't know, is that their battle has just begun.

**Shadows Of Our Past**

**A KILL la KILL STORY**

****

[Soundtrack (right click to open in new](https://youtu.be/BYp-hIRE53A) [ tab)](https://youtu.be/BYp-hIRE53A)

Snow is falling. And birds are chirping. The sun breaks through some of the clouds in the sky. Two girls run around, laughing, and steps are audible. The steps slowly become louder.

"I got you!" says Mako smiling towards Ryuko. Ryuko falls with her face into the snow, the hair full of it. She quickly stands up and shakes her head to remove the snow.

"Oh, just you wait, Mako!" Ryuko answers and runs to a tree to get some cover. Mako forms a new snow ball and throws it to Ryuko, but Ryuko dodges and throws a snowball back at her. She hits Makos blue winter jacket. The little woman quickly walks a few steps back and takes cover behinds a little rock, but her head is slightly visible. As fast as she can, she forms a new snow ball and looks around. Ryuko is gone. Confused, she looks around and suddenly gets hit by another snowball on her back.

"Oh?! How did you do that?!" Mako asks amazed and stands up, secretly collecting some snow. Her friend Ryuko walks towards her, mischievously smiling and moving another snowball from her left hand, to her right one and back, until she stands about three meters away from Mako.

"I'm just pretty good, you know?" Ryuko smiles. All of sudden, Mako throws the snowball and hits Ryuko on the upper body. Ryuko staggers back and laughs, then she throws her snowball and hits Mako. Mako falls down into a little hill full of snow. As she stands up, a funny little human form is shaped into the snow hill.

"Wowie! This time, you win! I'm so glad I'm not winning every time!" Mako smiles. Ryuko nods a bit confused, but then just smiles at her friend who grew up a few centimeter.

"Oh yeah, wait for it, Mako, you'll wonder how many times I'm going to win." she laughs. Mako rolls her eyes, smiles and then walks with her friend over a little, snowy meadow, watching the landscape. There is a little forest in the distance, and a small, frozen lake. Both women stand on the hillside, and if they move forward, they probably would just roll down.

"Travelling to Mie was a good idea." Ryuko notices and enjoys the view.

"Yup! We lived in this prefecture once, but you already know that." Mako answers.

"Mhm. Let's go home, I'm hungry." Ryuko grins. Mako nods. Both of them travel back home. For that, they walk over the meadow and then through a little forest with some paths. Some snow falls through the trees and leaves, but thanks to their warm jackets, the cold winter and the snow doesn't play a huge role. In general, the area they live in is quiet and enjoyable, and there aren't many noises either. The village they live in consists of about 1000 citizens, living in an rather huge valley with connection to the highway that leads to huge cities like Ôsaka or Tokyo.

"Senketsu would have loved this area." Ryuko thinks loud.

"Oh he probably would have loved everything more than plain old Hônno-town." Mako comments.

"Yeah, that's true. But at the very least he's never fully gone. Every time I look at the sun, he's there, watching me. Kind of."

"Mhm! He will always watch you! He probably laughed already because you lost three times in a row against me!" Mako laughs.

"Haha, right, Mako! It was only three times, but your streak finds an end now."

"You only won because I pretended to not know where you were." Mako claims all of a sudden, but she obviously is just joking. Ryuko laughs a little bit.

"Did you sister called you this morning?"

"Nah. She's busy. Doing some paper work regarding that stupid REVOCS corporation. But I'll call her later."

(music stops)

"Okay." Mako answers. As they leave the forest, they see some smoke coming up. They arrived at home. When they move to the slight hillside that leads down to the valley the village is located, they quickly realize something is wrong. Fire arises from the buildings, and smoke thickens. People are screaming full of anxiety, running out of the village in panic. Men, women, children and animals flee.

"Oh fuck..." Ryuko says.

"What is happening?!" Mako says confused and looks up to Ryuko.

"Who gives a shit, let's get your family out of there!" Ryuko suggests and runs down to the village with Mako. The closer they come, the warmer it gets, and you can hear walls breaking down. More smoke rises. Suddenly, Mako's pet Guts runs at them, barking. The poor dog looks scared at Mako and Ryuko.

"Guts?! Are you alright?" Mako asks worried. A roof breaks apart. Ryuko pushes Mako and Guts away, and moments after, the roof debris hits the spot Mako was standing on. That was close.

"Alright, Mako? You better make your way to the temple, we'll meet up there. I'll search the others."

"But Ryuko, how..."

"No "But!" I won't die from a fire, Mako, but they will if you won't let me go now! I'll find them, trust me!" she says and calms Mako down. She leaves Mako and runs into the burning village, while Mako feels bad for letting her family alone.

Ryuko watches how people ran away. Everyone is scared and some people have severe wounds. Ryuko coughs, but won't get poisoned to smoke since she is partially life fiber. However, it's clear to her how difficult it is for the other people to get out of the village. This can't be an ordinary fire, she thinks. Nothing can burn that much in such a short time, especially with such a heat and intensity. Eventually, Ryuko arrives at the house of the Mankanshokus and kicks open the burning door.

"Hello? HEY?! CAN ANYONE HEAR ME?!" Ryuko screams and runs through the hall. She gets some minor burns but sustains the pain and continues searching. Arriving at the living room, she finds mother Sukuyo and father Barazo. They are dead. Partially because of the fire, but they've been also hit by a weapon, apparently a sword or something. The wounds caused by the fire look awful, and a few bones slowly get visible too.

"Oh, fuck, fuck, FUCK!" Ryuko notices and searches for Makos little brother Mataro. Quickly arriving at his room, she realizes he's not here anymore. She can't find him in the other rooms either. The fire gets louder and even hotter, Ryuko sweats and can only barely see what is in front of her. As Ryuko leaves the building, she actually finds Mataro, walking around confused and scared.

"Mataro!" she calls him and holds him.

"Ry...uko... Ryu..." he mumbles scared. Mataro shakes scared.

"I got you, Mataro. Hold me!" Ryuko says and picks up Mataro.

"She... is searching for you..." Mataro mumbles.

"Who!?"

Mataro does not answer. Ryuko runs even faster, out of the village, leaving the other people behind, and the screams become louder and even more horrifying. It's a pure nightmare, and Ryuko does not know how this nightmare started. As they leave the village, Ryuko falls down, as something hit her leg. Mataro falls as well. The fire is spreading into the forest, and it looks and feels like hell arrived onto the village. Ryuko tries to get up, but then notices how Mataro is being dragged away. She can only see how he disappears in the fire and smoke. Mataro screams for help but suddenly stops as Ryuko hears a weapon hitting him. Blood splatters into Ryukos direction. Ryuko runs to Mataro... but he is gone. There's only blood and a few life fibers left.

"Mataro..." Ryuko mumbles sad and angry, bites onto her teeth and runs to the temple to meet up with Mako. Arriving at the little temple, Mako is seen hiding behind a door, watching for Ryuko coming to her. Fire arrives at the temple and the tree around it. Ryuko tries to keep her tears away, but it's difficult.

[Soundtrack (right click to open in new tab)](https://youtu.be/D_KdqLi-0rw)

"RYUKO?!" Mako screams worried and walks to Ryuko. As she notices how sad Ryuko looks, Mako looks sad too.

"Ryuko...?" she asks her friend. Ryuko deeply breathes in with her nose and looks into Makos innocent face.

"I'm... so sorry, Mako. Mako, I..." she mumbles. Suddenly, Ryuko hears someone laughing happily. Mako is paralyzed as something jumps down behind her, and her eyes are advancing, getting bigger. It's a laugh Ryuko and Mako know all too well, and they know exactly who they are dealing with. Around them, dozens of doppelgängers of the Grand Couturier of the REVOCS corporation, Nui Harime, arrive, smiling at them, armed with needle blades. Ryuko is unable to defend herself and Mako properly as she lacks a blade to use. Nui appears behind Mako and stands up, smiling evil at Ryuko, then to Mako. Her smile becomes bigger. Mako notices Nui's presence and does not dare to turn around.

"You..." Ryuko slowly says with hatred towards Nui. She still has those black arms a year ago, and the few coloured fibers light up a little bit. The once so cold but precise and effective psychopath is gone, and everything that is left in her face is Chaos and madness. She smiles at Ryuko, knowing that she has full control over her enemy.

"Hello, Ryuko." Nui smiles, but she is equally angry at her, that is obvious.

"Let Mako go. You want me, not her." Ryuko demands. Nui suddenly draws both parts of the scissor blade and presents them to Ryuko. She looks into Ryukos eyes, deeply and with hate, covered by nothing but an innocent, although seemingly forced smile.

"It seems like you lost your little toy, love. It would be a shame if someone gets hurt." Nui laughs and charges an attack.

"MAKO, RUN!" Ryuko screams.

But it is too late. Ryuko watches the scissor blade penetrating Mako's torso. Blood spreads out of Mako, and organs fail. Mako looks at Ryuko scared and full of pain.

"Ryuko... it hurts, it... hurts..." Mako mumbles scared. Harime giggles and extends the blade, ripping Mako into two parts, effectively killing her.

"What's wrong, Matoi?! Isn't this fun enough for you!?" Nui screams at Ryuko angry.

"YOU FUCKING BITCH! I'LL KILL YOU!" Ryuko screams and runs towards Nui, pushing her down. The doppelgängers start laughing entertained about Ryukos desperate attacks to hurt their mistress even slightly. Nui continues to grab Ryuko at her neck and throws her a few meters away, letting her fall onto the ground.

"YOU CRAZY MONSTER!" Ryuko screams and stands up, hitting Nui's face with her fist, and as she tries to knock her head against Nui, Nui notices the attack. Nui shakes her head entertained and watches Ryuko trying to remove the scissor blades from her hand. With her spare arm, Nui forms a blade, penetrating Ryukos shoulder area, which leads to Ryuko letting off of Nui. Blood spreads onto Harime, but she enjoys the view of Ryuko getting mad. The Grand Couturier then kicks Ryuko away, and doppelgängers walk towards Ryuko, holding her tight so that she can't flee. Ryuko tries to flee but there's no way out of this situation. Not this time. The mad Nui walks in front of Ryuko and looks into her face, with an evil smile.

"When I'll get you into my hands, I'll make you wish you would have stayed dead, you fuck!"

"I'm already dead, dear Ryuko. But I'll always stay with you, love. I hope you enjoyed the performance. There will be a lot more in the future. I'm looking forward to all the fun we have. Until next time." she smiles. The puppets let go of Ryuko. Harime extends the scissor blade and attacks Ryuko, but Ryuko is too slow. She tries to cover her body and the neck, but Ryuko can't defend the attack of the scissor blade. Her arms get cut off, blood spreads, and just as the blades hit Ryukos neck, she starts screaming.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Ryuko screams.

...

...

...

It was just a nightmare. Just one of many bad jokes her head was trying to perform. Mako is totally alright, she knows that. Or at the very least, that's what she hopes - it's been four years since they saw each other. Ryuko sighs and takes a jug from her water bottle. Her head hurts a bit, and she is still tired. It wouldn't change a lot anyway since the alarm would have gone off. It's 6:55 AM.

(music stops)

"Nightmares... or the alarm... eh, who cares." she mumbles and stands up. Ryuko wears a comfy looking, red pyjama. Her hair looks silly, and there's barely light in the sleeping room - red walls, a curtain at the window, shelfs, house shoes, the usual stuff. The tired, now 22 year old Ryuko walks into the bathroom and makes herself ready for work. The morning routine usually looks the same - waking up, getting ready in the bathroom, making something to eat in the kitchen, watching boring news and thinking about what she could do after work.

After she's done brushing teeths, she opens the window and notices snow falling. It's not a strong storm or anything, but enough to influence the sight a bit. She then puts on her working clothes - a nice, black suit with white shirt, as well as black pants. That's what she and everyone else has to wear at the place she's working at - it's a rather famous company in asia called "Hokkaido Electrics" which mainly earns it's money with the production and sale of various electronic items like TVs, computers and so on. Despite her only having basic knowledge of how to operate computers and other wares of Hokkaido Electrics, she however proves to be "patient" and "helpful". Ryuko always has to giggle a bit when she thinks about that because it's not true - but when you have a buddy like Houka Inumuta, you can really just apply anywhere and you should get accepted without problems.

Eventually she steps out of her house, the Matoi Mansion. It has been rebuild four years ago, briefly before she had to leave Mako and the village. Thanks to Satsuki the operation got financed, after all, she is the heir and therefore the CEO of REVOCS corporation. Ryuko is second in command. The winter jacket she wears keeps her warm and as she walks through the little garden in front of the mansion, she takes a brief look at the little hill on the left. There is a grave and a young tree growing. Her father Isshin Matoi lies there. She carefully works on the grave every now and then, keeping it clean and nice, since she still couldn't fully process the death of her father, as well as the death of her friend Senketsu. The young woman knows Senketsu is watching over her but it still doesn't really feel right, and over the years it got more and more clear that she misses him and that he was one of the most important influences of her life. As Ryuko leaves the path that leads to the mansion, she finds herself back in a little village with a bus stop. There is also a gas station, but other than there's nothing interesting. About 0,6 miles away there is however a small town, connected to the train system of Japan. That way it's possible for Ryuko to visit her sister Satsuki if she wants to. The trains here won't disturb Ryuko when she is in her mansion though.

Arriving at the bus stop, Ryuko leans next to a wall and waits for the bus to arrive. She yawns and still appears tired, but her body got used to her being tired most of the time. After a few minutes, the bus finally arrives and Ryuko enters it. The bus driver nods his head to her, and she does the same, like every morning. Then she walks to the seat she always sits in, back in the bus. Leaning into the seat, she looks out of the window and relaxes a bit. The bus temperatur is warm and cozy, and it's still rather quiet. Briefly after Ryuko entering the bus, the driver continues his route.

Driving to her job usually takes around 45 minutes, and around that time she always sees the same few faces. Two young men who appear to be students, a woman working on her Laptop and an old man who seems to be tired the entire time and every once in a while even falls asleep. Snow hits the windows of the bus, and the sun rises in approximately thirty minutes. After a while it's possible to see more of the area, and not just forest. There is a little valley with some animals living there. In the distance, near a little lake, is also a temple, where a monk sometimes sits. Today he is not there though. Ryuko peeks at her Smartphone and notices a message sent by Satsuki via chat. Satsuki wrote that she is excited for next saturday, which is in three days, as they want to watch a movie in cinema. Ryuko answers that she is also excited and then puts the phone away again. Soon, the bus arrives the city of Kisarazu, which is located at the coast of Tokyo Bay. It's an industrial city, and her working place lies there. Ryuko works as call center agent. Not exactly the most grateful job, but for the moment, it's enough for Ryuko. She didn't complained yet at the very least.

As the bus stops in Kisarazu after passing two more bus stops, Ryuko leaves the bus and walks through the snowy streets. Snow removal vehicles try to fight against the snow. However, it kinda feels nice to just walk through the snowy streets while it's still dark. For an industrial city, Kisarazu looks clean enough to not be considered as such. The call center is just around the corner. It's a little building with two floors and a huge window wall directed to the coast of the bay, which gives a nice view over the city and the sea. Ryuko enters the building and greets the receptionist.

"Good morning, Taro. You look tired." notices Ryuko. Her colleague simply nods and then yawns. Ryuko smiles and walks around the reception to enter the office which is quite big and very aesthetic, as it doesn't feel overloaded. Everyone has enough space to not be disturbed. Thanks to the window wall, enough light enters the building during the day, except for the evening and the morning, but that's where the lights at the wall come in handy. There is also a huge monitor at the wall, showing which agent is available and which one isn't. Ryuko walks up the spiral like stairs up to the second floor where her desk is. It's close to the window wall, hence why she has a good sight on the coast. A nice thought when you think about you having a stressful job. Ryuko greets the few agents that are already at their desks. Arriving at her desk, she boots up the computer and logs into the agent system made for the company, so that she appears as available for everyone.

Slowly the day passes, and around noon the first customers start calling. Ryuko answers and sets up a kind smile.

"Hokkaido Electrics, Ryuko Matoi, how can I help you?"

"Uh, hello? Is this thing on?"

"Hello?"

"Ah! Hello! Am I speaking to Hokkaido Electrics?"

"Yes, that is right."

"Very good! I got a huge problem... my HE TV System 3.2 all of a sudden malfunctioned yesterday and I only have a slight idea of how that could have happened, which is why I am calling you to ask if you could help me."

"Well sure. What exactly do you think happened?"

"My cat and I always watch the weekly Go competitions from Tokushima on TV. But as of yesterday, the TV does not work anymore because of some sort of internal damage. I do not get why though! You need to know, I am working ten hours a day and when I come back, I would be glad to know that my TV works perfectly fine. It sometimes annoys me that much that I just start punching if you get what I mean."

"... punching? Uh, of course, yes! *clears throat* And which kind of "internal damage" do you think was sustained?

"I don't know! Maybe a fuse died? How should I know? It's not my fault when the TV doesn't survive a stupid rock!" the man answers. Ryuko looks confused. Didn't he just said he has an assumption about what happened?

"A rock?"

"Yes! I'm a very emotional human and I'm always very into what I'm watching. Case in point, when I was watching a movie yesterday which I forgot the name of, and the villain captured the hero, I, I, I just couldn't hold myself back and threw something against the TV. And now it does not work anymore!"

Ryuko shakes her head ashamed and holds the hand at the phone.

"This can't be real, why am I always getting these people..." she mumbles to herself and uses the phone again. A agent next to her smiles at her.

"I see, well, that is indeed very... uh... unfavorable. I can totally understand you are frustrated, however I'm asking you to maybe not attack your TV with items as it increases the chance of it malfunctioning. Besides, I have to point out that Hokkaido Electrics is not in your guilt when you damage the ware you bought."

"But I did not damage anything! Well... I mean yeah, the monitor got some damage, but the TV itself was working fine!"

"... the monitor is also damaged?" Ryuko asks in disbelief.

"Uhm... well, I am an emotional human."

"Yeah, that... is possible. Alright: According to the regulations, I am not allowed to help customers who destroy our products to seemingly. After all, it's possible that you want to accuse us. Do not ask me as I am not the one who came up with the regulations. Honestly, I don't give a shit about what you do with the TV, however I cannot help you if you damage it. I suggest you call one of our service centers in Tokyo as they usually have mechanics available to repair your TV. The service center of Kisarazu does not have mechanics as we are just a little building."

"Okay, but..."

"If you really want to see your semi interesting Go competitions, I'd suggest you call one of our service centers in Tokyo. They probably can still visit you today and repair your TV or get you a new one."

"Oh... well, if that is the case, then... thanks for your time." the customer answers. Ryuko puts the phone away and shakes her head.

"This guy was really annoying, hm, Matoi?" one of her colleagues asks and smiles.

"To be honest, Yukari, I'm only annoyed by clowns like that guy, talking about some sort of "internal damage", just to tell me one minute later "I'm throwing stuff at my TV, look at me, I want my money back!" Ryuko answers and giggles in disbelief.

"No way, he said that?"

"Yeah, he did, which is why I told him to ask one of the service centers down in Tokyo. I couldn't do shit anyways." Ryuko continues. Her colleague nods. Ryuko yawns and makes a little coffee to wake her up again.

The rest of the day advances slowly, but finally, around 5 PM, she is able to pack her stuff and go back to her warm home. Quickly taking the winter jacket, she logs out of the system and walks back to the bus stop, where about ten minutes later, the bus arrives, driving her back to home. The bus she sits in at the moment is a different one and a tad bit more modern than the other one. An intern news system chatters around if something important or simply interesting happened. Ryuko listens to the system as she hears the news jingle.

"Good evening. This is the automatic news system of the prefecture Chiba. First message: An attack regarding a clothing factory was commited around six hours ago. COVERS-sympathizers destroyed the entire factory and scared the workers. The government continues searching. This is the sixth attack in nine months.

Second message: The demand for fish in the prefecture Chiba increased for about 20%. Fishermen are asked and motivated to sell their wares at the local markets.

Third message: The CEO of REVOCS Corporation, Satsuki Kiryuin, kept a public speech this afternoon: "REVOCS is a name that symbolizes shame. I'm ashamed to be the heir of this organisation and all I can do is to apologize for the deeds of my dead mother Ragyo. Years have passed and yet the name REVOCS is a name that shall be known as one of human failure. Life fibers had the chance of being a valuable tool, but I quickly realized how wrong I am, especially when we think about what damage it dealt to us humans. This is the fifth year in which I am leading REVOCS and I am still not planning on polluting our world with this company..." Miss Kiryuin declined interviews and questions."

"So sorry you have to deal with this crap every year, Satsuki." mumbles Ryuko a bit worried. The snow has stopped falling, and the sun slowly goes down. The bus drives a bit faster than the other one and the route it takes is more optimized, which is why Ryuko arrives sooner. Eventually, the bus arrives at the Matoi-Mansion. Ryuko leaves the bus and walks down the path back to her home. The lights go on automatically and go off at around 11 PM, since Ryuko is in her bed around that time and has no reason to go out anymore. She quickly moves into the warm hall, takes off her shoes and jacket and enters the living room. It has two window doors that to the actual garden in the back. Other than that, the room has warm brown colors, and next to the open and modern kitchen are two big couchs, a modern TV from Hokkaido Electrics and the usual stuff you can find in a living room. There is also a nice red carpet on the floor.

Shortly after relaxing her muscles, she moves to the kitchen and starts making a bowl of vegetables, rice and some chicken. It takes around thirty minutes, but the food tastes great and so she takes the time to cook it. While eating, she watches television. The wall behind the table she's sitting on has an image of her and Satsuki hanging, and there is also an image of her father Isshin Matoi. Now that she is done with work and food, she starts cleaning up the rooms at least roughly, according to her checklist she made this morning. As she finishes that task too, she wanders around through her home, not really knowing what to do at the moment. Living in such a huge mansion can feel lonely if there is no one else living with you. The cellar where Isshin worked on his experiments, Senketsu and the scissor blades still exists, but Ryuko never visits it. Just as she walks down the stairs, she hears the phone ringing. It's Satsuki.

Satsuki lives in an apartment of a huge skyscraper in Tokyo - the reason lies more because of her strong and maybe a bit raised personality, but also since a woman like Satsuki wouldn't be expected in an ordinary skyscraper, but more in an mansion like Ryuko lives in. The Kiryuin manor hasn't been visited for a long time already and it is a restricted area no one visits. Some dead life fibers lie around there but not even the government dares to investigate the area. That is because of the Life Fiber sickness, and since the fibers are dead already, there wouldn't be a use of visiting the area anyway to find a cure or do something else with the fibers.

"Hey, Ryuko." Satsuki greets.

"Satsuki, how you doin?" Ryuko asks happily and searches for a little book in her sleeping room. It's on a shelf with other little things like action figures, books or posters.

"I'm better now that those annoying "investigative journalists" are gone."

"Hehe. I heard the speech in the bus a few hours ago, but I think it was just a small part of it. I'm really sorry you have to deal with REVOCS every day. Shouldn't the people know by now that you won't use REVOCS?" Ryuko wonders confused.

"You should be able to expect that but apparently most humans aren't thinking farther than they have to. But what about you? Was your nightmare... less bad this time?" Satsuki asks careful.

"Nah. It was one of the worst."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Honestly, no, not really."

"I see."

"Yeah. I'm still wondering whether we could have avoided this stupid sickness back then." Ryuko says. Satsuki hears some guilt out of her voice.

"You couldn't have known what happened. We all couldn't. I too thought that "mother" did not had any other plans left. Shinra Koketsu was her ultimate target, and with the destruction of it, it seemed like she lost. But if I would have known this would lead to one fifth of humanity and both of us becoming victims of a plague that does not have a cure... and which damns all of us to live through nightmares and even hallucinations... *sigh* whatever..." Satsuki explains.

"At the very least Mikisugi and Tsumugu still fight against those COVERS-assholes."

"They give her life to fight the life fibers. Admiring." Satsuki answers. They both become quiet for a few seconds.

"Mhm... you think next saturday there will be a lot of guests in the cinema?" Ryuko thinks loud.

"I hope so. Visiting a cinema is always more interesting when there are more people. Although I have to say, sometimes the screams and the talking is annoying, but I guess that's part of the experience. On the other hand, I didn't chose the best and most expensive cinema for no reason, so we probably won't have any exciting encounters with guests. And the VIP seats are a bonus too." she smiles.

"Well you gotta live with the fact that I'm gonna get us a huge bowl of popcorn and we have to somehow eat it up." Ryuko grins. Satsuki laughs.

"Right, right..."

Both sisters continue to make some more smalltalk - how boring TV has become recently, what the Elite four do at the moment and so on. After the call, Ryuko notices it's 11 PM which means bed time for her. She is tired anyways. After a shower she puts on her red pyjama - warm and comfortable. The bed is warm too without being too warm or thick. Then she lies onto her side and turns off the lights in her room. Slowly the lights in the other rooms go off too, and it's becoming silent and quiet in the Matoi-Mansion, that is a fact. But there's also the fact that Ryuko will have to endure another nightmare this night. It's possible to live with the Life Fiber sickness, however, she wonders how long it'll take to get her go crazy due to her nightmares. And she also wonders how long it will take to get a cure that will heal her and humanity from that plague. All she wishes is to just have one night without fearing that she gets a nightmare. Peaking one last time out of the window, Ryuko sees stars in the sky, and the moon. There is even a star falling slowly which gives a nice view. Ryuko closes the curtains and starts sleeping shortly after.

During the night, a few boats slowly cruise around the bay of Tokyo. No one is allowed to visit the area around the Honnôuji-Academy. A few small buildings, the ring wall and the tower of the academy peak out of the water due tsunamis moving the island up a few times. The lights of the ships search for humans that do not hold onto the rules of the government.

And then, said falling star falls down to the academy, slowly, and quiet...


	3. Chapter 2: When Life Met Death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's dark and snowy outside. Until a star falls from the air...

The ocean in the bay of Tokyo is rather quiet. Snow falls during this quiet night. Ships break through the few waves in the ocean, and the sky is enlightened only by the moon and the few stars. A few men on the ships that search people who try to enter the area of the Honnouji-Academy see some kind of falling star. It approaches the area slowly but steady, although it does not look too dangerous or huge. The top of the academy, the main building and the upper area of the walls reach out of the water, and waves break at them apart. Ships that patrol the area cruise slow to avoid ramming something, especially during the night where they can't see much. That's why they have to keep about 500 meters distance to the academy as well, and there are no exceptions. No one is allowed to enter the academy, as well as leaving it. The mysterious object comes closer, and the men are starting to get cautious.

"You guys see that? Look! Is that some kind of falling star?" one of the men asks curiously. Slowly but steady the group of men that work on the ship gets bigger, and together they watch how this tiny little thing falls from the sky. It really does not look that dangerous, it merely is a little rock and nothing more, or at least that's what they think. The men watch interested as the object falls down, and in the next moment, it slams into one of the walls of the academy. Waves arise, and the walls break. The men are somehow shocked, but also curious. Whatever this thing is, it can't be a coincidence that it fell onto the area of the academy. Even though they are well armed, they do not know what to do next, and so they think about their next move.

The Honnouji-Academy itself is quiet. Besides from the waves that break apart at the half sunken buildings and the walls, there is of course also water in the inner walls. The main building and the peak of the academy also contain water, at least partially. The walls of the buildings are broken, at least at some parts. Water drops out of the windows of the academy every once in a while. The train system is defect, and rust can be seen. Almost everything of this huge, fortress like building is defect. Here and there are a few little lights that still run on emergency power but that's it. Besides, they wouldn't work much longer anyway. It is however a testimony of how well this academy was built. A part of the wall is completely destroyed thanks to the rock like object. Water moves through the gap that appeared now that the rock has slammed the walls. Smoke arises, and the ground is burning. Slowly, two little ships start cruising to the academy to investigate whatever landed there. Briefly after, the smoke slowly disappears, and the rock starts to open itself. Stones fell out, and red fibers start moving out of it, slowly, but precise.

And then it is audible how something tries to move out of the rock. The red fibers collect themselves onto the ground the rock is on. Water slams the walls and falls onto the ground, where the red fibers lie, as well as some snow. It's ice cold. But the area the rock has fallen onto is still hot - hot enough to burn yourself at the very least. More and more fibers find together, and after a minute, enough of them collected each other, slowly forming something out of them. Something like a human body. It takes a moment, but then the first body parts become visible. Eyes that are dark blue and huge, a nose and a mouth form. Muscles become visible and start moving so that this unknown being gets used to it's new form. And then, after a half minute passes, a smile forms. A face becomes visible - a young, pretty looking man with blonde hair. He looks around curious, as this world is a completely new one for him, and he certainly is interested in it. Well, the area he landed on is without a doubt a very unique and prominent one, and so this young man slowly starts his way to the top of the, of water and plants overgrown academy.

[Soundtrack (right click to open in new tab)](https://youtu.be/q-7m5DJkmi8)

Water drops here and there, and the waves slowly become stronger. The cold water and the temperature of this area seem to not affect him, and slowly, the first clothes become visible. He curiously looks around and finds a huge hole, which probably formed itself through an explosion or a different violent effect. It appears to be the only way into the academy without diving or swimming. The man starts moving to the hole by jumping from one part of the academy walls to another. He does however not mind the water that lands onto his legs, since it's the water that came from the waves. As he balances to the hole, he notices it still is about four meters higher than him - not even a high jump would be enough to reach it. Knowing that, he starts moving both of his arms slowly into the air, and life fibers spread out of his hands. The fibers construct some kind of surface. With that surface he is able to climb up, and as he reaches the hole, walking into the academy, the surface vanishes, and the life fibers move back to him, slowly, but steady.

Arriving at one of the halls of the academy, it now becomes visible how much damage it had to sustain because of all the years being sunken in the water. Most of the stuff here is broken or rusty, and the few lights that still work only work thanks to the emergency power. A few signs still hang onto the walls, with words like "Disciplinary Office" or "Class room". Other than that, water has filled this area too. With every step, water moves, as it is high enough to cover the feets of a person. The mysterious young man slowly walks through the halls until he reaches an elevator, that however does not work anymore, like almost everything else in this old building. Next to the elevator are stairs which the man start to slowly walk up. While doing that, he sometimes is able to see a few broken walls, which give a view onto Tokyo and Kisarazu. Unimpressed, he walks the stairs up until he reaches the highest floors. Two minutes later, he arrives at the private room of the Elite-four and where they met every time to do smalltalk, planning stuff or eat together. The chairs here are fully broken and you can't sit on them anymore. Water drops from the ceiling. There is also a group photo of Satsuki Kiryuin and her four friends that lies onto a table. The glass of the photo is destroyed, but as he removes it, the man notices quickly that the image itself still looks good enough to recognize the people visible on the image. He takes a closer look at the image. He is especially interested in Satsuki. Satsuki is looking seriously and somewhat evil, while Nonon seems mischievous. Gamagoori looks dead serious, Sanageyama proud and Inumuta appears to be bored. Then, the man throws away the image and moves on.

Arriving at the Student council office, the man notices snow falling onto the old desk of Satsuki Kiryuin. The noble chair she was always sitting on to watch the moon and drink tea her butler Soroi made is destroyed. The desk as well, and the few electronic items in the room are broken too. It somehow feels especially cold here, but then again, the man does not care about the cold, as it seems. There's a mirror hanging in the room, in which he looks into it. He wears a nice looking pink vest with yellow tie, and yellow trousers. There are also two bowties on his body - one on his neck, the other one on his hair, which also looks smooth and fluffly. It probably feels nice too. On the desk are a few old documents that can't be read anymore though. As he approaches the window wall, the view onto Tokyo is even better and only now nearly describable.

Huge waves break apart at the ships that approach the academy slowly. The young man smiles slightly and hums a joyful "Mhm." As he turns around to take a short last look at the room, he notices something interesting. There are a few images hanging on the wall of the room. Images of Satsuki, images of the Honnouji-Academy, an image of Satsuki with her mother Ragyo Kiryuin and her second... "sister"... Nui Harime... and an image of Ryuko Matoi, wearing her Kamui Senketsu during combat. The image of Ryuko probably was made while she was fighting against one of the four devas, and from the looks of it, it was a fight between her and Ira Gamagoori. He curiously picks up the image and looks closely onto Ryuko. Then he smiles and throws the picture away. After that, he proceeds to walk up the last few stairs which lead him to the top of the academy. The top, where Satsuki Kiryuin once told her famous speech. A few dead and old life fibers lie around here, and so he begins his work, by letting a ball of yellow and red fibers fall on the ground. The fibers slowly approach the dead fibers and touch them. Some of them, not all, but a few seem to regenerate. At the very least there is movement.

Shortly after, something comes back to life. It is an COVERS - an old weapon, once used by Ragyo Kiryuin. The other fibers on the top of the academy do not regenerate however, or if they do, it's too slow to actually be interesting for this man. The man takes a closer look at the COVERS, which seems to be absolutely loyal towards him, as it seems that it awaits orders from him. But the only thing the COVERS receives is a destruction of its structure by the man with nothing but one of his short fingernails. Shortly after, the COVERS explodes into thousands of life fibers. Disappointed, he looks down onto the dead remains of the COVERS and walks down the top. He starts to throw out the yellow fiber balls. And slowly, a few life fibers appear, but they seem to be weak, as they do not light up as much as a strong and normal life fiber - they probably could be cut apart with nothing but a normal scissor.

The fibers slowly infest the, with water and plants overgrown academy. And even though if he didn't expected it, something starts to regenerate slowly on the top of the academy. But it is not a COVERS, or a weapon, or simply some clothes... it is something different. Something like a human made out of life fiber. Snow falls onto it, and it slowly becomes clear that this is a female body. The snow slowly starts to become more, and the sight gets worse. The ships try to approach the academy carefully, and their lights reach the walls of this sunken place.

And then, you can hear something breathing. And it's scared.

"NO!" is what you can hear from this being. A face forms, and the hair starts to regenerate. It breathes, and it breathes scared and hysterically. But it breathes, and that is the important part. Eyes appear - dark blue and huge, and an eye patch, and it becomes clear that this once dead being is no one else than Nui Harime. And she is scared. Scared of seeing what happened to this world, or better, what did not happen to it. Her body is extremly weak and the body parts have to regenerate properly. A process that can take a few minutes to hours. The neck is fully broken, and only visible life fibers hold it together. The arms slowly get their skin color, the fingers are broken, and the torso regenerates the slowest. All of those body parts are only there. It is clear what they appear to be, but they don't look human yet. Only fiber holes are visible. Nui takes a look at the ocean and the lights of Tokyo. And as she sees the lights of Tokyo and how beautiful their colours are, she takes her eye patch off. She doesn't need it anymore. Her eye is back, but it has a huge scar that looks like a fiber hole. It will never fully regenerate, unlike the other holes. This eye will always mark Nui as a life fiber being and not as an human. Nui holds her eye patch in her still regenerating right hand and holds it tight as she looks at Tokyo. The night life is up as it seems.

This view let's her fall down onto a wall, and only a shocked face expression is left. This is what she sacrificed herself for. This is the reason why she ended her life - all to end this world too. Just to find out that his sacrifice was worthless. She realizes how everything she tried to accomplish with her mother and her friend and colleague Rei Hoomaru. And all of it was worthless. She can't find words for that. But it's unbelievable cold. The weak Nui slowly stands up and walks to the few remains of the COVERS that has been destroyed a few minutes before, and with her weak but at the very least still experienced tailor hands, she forms a few small clothes to at least cover up her breasts and hips. It's better than nothing.

"... how is this possible." she mumbles overwhelmed. That feeling of throwing away your life worthlessly is one she can't describe to herself. She looks around exhausted.

"... Lady... Ragyo..." she mumbles depressed and sits down. She sighs and watches her hands slowly regenerating. The arms look normal again - no black arms like five years ago. She puts her eye patch into a little pocket and proceeds to slowly walk down the stairs of the building until she arrives in the lower parts of the academy. Here she is able to see the ships that dock onto the wall, and the first people jump onto the wall, armed with rifles. They look like ants from here.

"Humans." she mumbles and walks down. Then she hears a noise she wouldn't have expected to hear. A quiet giggle is audible, and it seems to be one she knows. Carefully she walks down and sees a COVERS patroulling the hall slowly. The moment it sees Nui, it tries to reach her. Apparently it is hostile towards her, and so Nui walks away and into a classroom. Luckily, the COVERS is slower than her, as it had to regenerate first too. Nui opens a locker in the classroom and closes it. Then she waits for the COVERS, and as it arrives into the room, it seems to be confused, hovering around the room, but it is not able to find Nui. The COVERS gives up.

[Soundtrack (right click to open in new tab)](https://youtu.be/zLv8pBr5-nE)

Everything Nui can hear besides the COVERS are the waves and the water drops, and a light that flickers around in the hall next to the classroom. Nui sneaks out of the locker and looks around. She carefully walks through the halls, still weak, and then she hears footsteps. She quickly walks into a huge area - it seems to be the stitching halls of Shiro Iori. No one seems to be here. There are a few old life fibers left on the ground which she collects quickly to tailor some warm clothes, but then she hears someone giggling again. Nui can feel the presence of this being that moves around the academy. Then she quietly moves behind a desk and waits.

The man appears.

"Hariiime..." he sings quietly. His voice sounds calm and soft but the way he says her name is awful and dangerous, and so it seems paradox. Nui does seem to know this man, which is why she does not interfere or attack him from behind. If a being like Nui, who is one of the most powerful life fibers earth has ever seen, has to hide from someone else, you can be sure that this enemy she faces is is on a different level from everything the world has seen. The steps become louder. Nui holds her breath. The man looks into Nui's direction but he seems to not know where she is. Or does he?

"So you were the fiber that did not regenerate up there...?" he asks calm. Nui hears how life fibers materialize, and then she hears two taps. He seems to have a weapon. The steps become louder, and then they suddenly stop. Nui can hear his breath.

"You should be dead. Exiled and in the beyond... yet you prefer to play hide and seek. It was scary, wasn't it, my dear?" he asks and smiles. Nui tries to hold her breath longer but she has to stop any moment. Then she can hear steps again. He's moving away from Nui as it seems. Nui does not dare to take a look.

"Look at you... the predecessor is hiding. She is scared. We all know that." he smiles. Nui quietly breathes in and looks out. She can see the back of the man. Then she quietly sneaks to a different cover. There is a little broken wall she could sneak through. The man turns his head into her direction, and Nui hides again, closing her eyes, hoping he won't see her.

"It's funny. You love fun, don't you? I do." he says and walks out of the room. Nui quickly climbs through the broken wall and enters another classroom. She takes cover behind a wall and looks into the hall where the man walks around. She hears more footsteps all of a sudden. Something is moving on the left side of the hall. Nui hides behind the wall and sees around the corner something dark. It seems to be Nonon Jakuzure, but... not the Nonon she once saw. Her body and clothes are black, that's for sure. Nui walks out of the classroom as the Nonon-Doppelgänger passes by, and enters the hall. Carefully moving through the hall, she sees a little hole that leads out of the academy. A hole the man hasn't seen apparently. It leads to the walls probably. Nui crouches to it while the man looks out of the broken windows of the academy, watching the humans apporach his location. He smiles, while the Nonon-Doppelgänger walks around, searching for Nui. While the man approaches the humans, Nui climbs out of the academy and lands onto the wall. Her legs hurt as they are still weak, and the water that hits Nui's body is painful as it fills the fiber holes. Nui moans in pain but tries to be as quiet as possible. While she carefully sneaks away, she can hear the humans talking with the man. She can't see them though as they are behind a wall.

"Alright, buddy. Why are you here and what are you doing here?" one of the men asks. 

"What is a handsome man like you doing here, hm?"

"What the fuck are you doing here? Answer them!" another one threatens.

"Hm... really... is that how you humans greet old friends, yes...?" he asks and smiles apparently.

"Old friends? Are you drunk?!" someone asks. Nui sneaks onto one of the boats. There is a man onto, sitting in the bridge of the ship. He waits for his friends to clear the situation. Fibers move out of the academy and infest the outer walls slowly. Then, all of a sudden, Nui can hear how a weapon is unlocked.

"Alright, last chance, what are you doing here?!" one of the men asks scared but also angry. And everything else Nui can hear are battle noises - of some extent, as no weapon is fired. Awful noises, best explained as if flesh exploded. No one says something. 

Well, there is a slight giggle to hear, and then a decapitated head rolling into the ocean. Life fibers seem to hold onto it. The face of that man is shocked. Nui climbs onto the boat and hides as the mysterious man comes closer to the boats. Nui quickly approaches the man on the bridge and picks up a baton that lied onto a desk. With that, she approaches the man who is not aware of her presence, and then she quickly attacks him several times with it. Blood spreads partially, but she seems to only incapacitate him. She is too weak to kill him. It's surprising enough for her to be capable of actually incapacitating someone. Quickly walking to the console, she tries to lift the anchor, and after a few wrong buttons, she is able to lift it. Eventually she moves a regulator up which controls the speed of the boat. The boat starts to move slowly and apparently towards Tokyo. With a somewhat relieved face she walks out of the bridge and takes a look at Honnouji-Academy. The man sees Nui on the boat, but all he does is smile at her. Nui then falls onto a bank behind her and looks at the moon, as the boat drives away. Slowly breathing. Her left eye feels painful thanks to the fresh scar.

"Ichiro..." she mumbles worried. Whatever this guy wants to accomplish, Nui doesn't like it...

... and that has to mean something.


	4. Chapter 3: An Oath, Never Fulfilled

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A normal day in Tokyo. Satsuki prepares herself for a fun evening in cinema with her sister. Just as Ryuko is done, everything turns south...

[Soundtrack (right click to open in new tab)](https://youtu.be/ycJlHMXB-v4)

The next saturday...

Tokyo at 11 AM. The city is quite lively - people pursue their activities. They go shopping, they buy food, drive around due to their job or just walk around in the capital city of Japan. Tokyo still suffers the most from the REVOCS propaganda. No matter where you look at, up to this day you can see posters of the corporation. On those posters you usually see happy looking people wearing clothes tailored by REVOCS. They would certainly think different about REVOCS today, unless they knew about what it planned in the first place.

The city itself however is dilapidated. Most people here are poor or suffer from the Life Fiber sickness. Most of the buildings here need to be renovated, and steam rises from the alleys. The streets are full and if you would be hunted by the police, you probably wouldn't have a problem hiding there. Criminality in this town is also higher than in other huge cities of Japan, like Ôsaka or Nagoya. Walking in those huge amounts of people on the streets feels uncomfortable and can sometimes be dangerous, but somehow you have to buy your food here. Rich people who live here definitely can have a good time in Tokyo, but even then, this does not count for everyone.

"Fuck that Kiryuin!" someone screams annoyed in the streets. Satsuki is annoyed by these words and continues to move forward, past the people, wearing nothing but a usual hoodie, a poor looking jeans and dirty shoes. She wears a hood so that she won't be detected by civilians. That's because Satsuki isn't very beloved in Japan, or really, in the world in general, thanks to the deeds of her mother and her corporation. Being the heir of REVOCS is an ungrateful job, even if you can be one of the most richest - and technically powerful - persons in the world. If you wouldn't mind about your reputation, it would even be better. But Satsuki is not like that. Satsuki may be able to ignore a few negative voices, but if most parts of the world start to hate her for something that is not her fault, well, at least not entirely, then it does scratch her a bit. The insult did not go towards her in person though, but more because of the speech she gave a few days ago which is repeated on some monitors hanging on the skyscrapers and business areas of Tokyo, so that everyone hears about what she says. On those monitors, Satsuki is visible, wearing a noble white suit with blue stripes, similar to her old Kamui Junketsu, while holding her speech. The general mood of the streets of Tokyo is tense anyway.

Briefly before arriving at the skyscraper she lives in, she's being pushed away by a young man who seems to be drunk too. Satsuki falls down and people walk over her, although they don't notice who they are actually walking on. That is a good thing, probably. Satsuki sighs annoyed and stands up, holding her wallet tight, because she just came back from the bank to get some money for the evening with Ryuko. Arriving in the skyscraper, she opens the entrance and takes the elevator. She does not take off her hood yet since no one should find out where she lives. It's probably already known to some people, but then either they did not say anything or they plan something. Satsuki does not really know that, and even if she is not a person that gets afraid so easily, she does have to be a bit more careful than usual. The first ten floors are pretty dirty and boring, and there are more poor people living than in the upper ones. The skyscraper that consists of about 25 floors does have some benefits, at least in the highest floors. Satsuki lives in the 22. floor. She changed her name so that the landlord does not know who she actually is. As the elevator arrives and Satsuki leaves it, she puts down the hood and walks through the beautiful, with red colors dyed hall. Eventually, she opens the door to her apartment and enters it, closing the door again. Relieved, she walks into the living room. The interior is expensive and the quality is excellent, and a window wall allows Satsuki to look down at Tokyo. Her apartment would be huge enough for three people.

The young woman walks into the kitchen and starts the water heater to prepare a tea. It always reminds her of her butler Soroi when she uses the heater, which makes her smile slightly. While the water starts getting warm, she walks back into the living room to change her clothes. She casually wears a light blue shirt and white trousers. Tokyo looks like a total desaster from up here, in which not a lot of people would like to live in, or at least that's what you could think. The poverty never cooled off after the end of World War 2. She is able to see the REVOCS headquarters and it's huge industrial area, with the roof that covers the inner parts of the area and the factories. Satsuki hates this building and every time she looks at it, her face expression slowly changes into one that makes you think something died inside her again. At the very least she has two loyal workers over there who she can trust - Rei Hoomaru and her Butler Soroi who still works for her, but now at REVOCS, helping out Hoomaru. When the water heater makes an alarm, Satsuki walks into the kitchen and makes her tea ready. Then she waits a minute to let it cool off a bit. While waiting, she calls the REVOCS headquarter, and after a few seconds, the call is commenced. 

"Good day. You are speaking to a worker of the REVOCS corporation, how can I help you?"

"Satsuki Kiryuin. Connect me to the presidential office."

"Very well, Lady Kiryuin." she hears. REVOCS is more or less active since Satsuki took it over shortly after the death of Ragyo Kiryuin. The few workers over there only work to keep the factories and tools intact in case an interested company offers to buy a few buildings. And there's also the fact that if she closes REVOCS entirely, a lot of people would lose their jobs. And since she has enough money for thousands of years, it does not hurt her holding REVOCS active. Wares are not produced anymore. No clothes, nothing. And that's for the best, at least that's what Satsuki thinks. The call with the office is commenced.

"REVOCS headquarter, presidential office, Rei Hoomaru?" says Hoomaru. Satsuki smiles a bit.

"Rei."

"Oh, Lady Satsuki?"

"Hello Rei. I wanted to ask for a report due to the small explosion in the third floor."

"Of course, Lady Satsuki. According to the mechanics, a sewing machine exploded after a worker tried to repair it. The machine cannot be repaired but I already ordered a new one from a rather small company."

"Good."

"Is there anything else you want, Lady Satsuki?" Hoomaru asks kindly.

"No. But Rei... even though you love your job and the building even more, I would recommend you leave work a few hours earlier today. I'll pay the hours."

"Thanks, but why?"

"I'm seeing this... building, and every day I wish it would be a normal headquarter like every normal company. A building that offers jobs for normal people... but that's not what it is. It is a symbol of shame and disappointment and the people who work there, like you, deserve something far better. Trust me, you don't have to work until 6 PM again. I'll pay the last two hours for you. You deserve something better and I'm sorry I can't find anything for you."

"I will consider it, Lady Satsuki. Thank you." Rei says grateful.

"Of course, Rei. I wish you a good day." Satsuki wishes calmly and sips from her tea. It smells like chamomile. Hoomaru puts the phone away.

Satsuki has some head aches when she takes a look at the city, which makes the tea even more valuable and enjoyable to drink. It's of course nothing she could compare with the tea Soroi always made, but it does the job fairly fine. Satsuki sighs and shakes her head. She feels a bit cold what surprises her slightly. Satsuki sips from the tea again and turns around to sit down onto her couch, but as she turns around, she stops moving, with her eyes getting bigger.

Her mother Ragyo stands in the room, watching her. Ragyo does not smile, she does not even look evil. All she does is standing there. But with every movement Satsuki makes, she moves her eyes. When Satsuki moves to the left, the eyes move to the left too. Satsuki feels uncomfortable even though she knows it's just a hallucination thanks to the Life Fiber sickness.

"You are not real." Satsuki says annoyed and walks back to the kitchen to put the empty tea cup away. Putting it away, she notices Ragyo standing at the door, blocking the path out of the room, watching closely what her daughter does. Satsuki watches the hallucination and looks into it's eyes, but it doesn't help at all. Satsuki looks away after a short while as she can't win a fight with eye contact only, especially if it's a hallucination that is not even real. Satsuki walks through the second door that is in the room which leads back to the hall of her apartment. Via the hall she is able to walk to the living room. She then sits down onto the coach and turns the TV on. When the TV turns on, an advertisement of REVOCS is running. Ragyo is also seen in it, talking about her newest product made by the Grand Couturier - a suit, looking exactly like a COVERS. Grumbling, Satsuki switches the channel, but every channel she visits has the same advertisement. Therefore, she turns the TV off, and when she blinks with her eyes, all of a sudden, her mother stands right in front of her, watching deeply into Satsukis eyes - all of that in the moment she stood up. That does intimidate Satsuki a little bit, but then she looks into Ragyos eyes.

"I am not afraid of you, "mother." Satsuki says polite, but full of hate.

"We'll see." Satsuki hears from behind. She turns around, and suddenly there's another hallucination of Ragyo. Satsuki turns around again and a third hallucination appears. Slowly but steady more and more hallucinations of Ragyo appear. And then, everything happens quick. Life fibers crawl the walls up, making uncomfortable noises, and every Ragyo hallucination looks at Satsuki. Satsuki is able to move through those hallucinations, but doing so causes the pressure in her head to increase. Passing through too many hallucinations can cause Satsuki to become unconscious. These hallucinations start to slowly walk towards Satsuki. Satsuki closes her eyes as a reaction, hoping that nothing will happen... at nothing happens indeed. 

The hallucinations are gone. Satsuki breathes in relieved and walks to the kitchen to make another tea to decrease the pressure in her head, but then, all of a sudden, another hallucination appears, attacking Satsuki with a fist. Satsuki, even though the attack was nothing physical, feels like she got hit, and falls back. She hits her head onto the couch but since it's a good and soft one, it doesn't really hurt or is dangerous. Satsuki grumbles angry.

"... fuck this sickness." she mumbles evil and stands up. Ragyo disappears for good. After a short sigh she makes her tea and reminds herself of her and Ryuko going to the cinema today. And that lightens her mood up quite a bit.

One hour later...

[Soundtrack (right click to open in new tab)](https://youtu.be/QwRbGpGcmv0)

A ship arrives slowly the coast of the Bay of Tokyo. It's cloudy and a bit cold, and the waves are not calm, unlike the few nights ago. The coast is silent and not a lot of people pass by here. Apparently not much happens here. With full speed, the ship rams onto the coast, stranding. Nui leaves the bridge and takes a look at it. Finally, she reached the main island of Japan, Honshu. Her body is fully regenerated, and only the scar on her left eye is left. Then she hears someone moaning from the bridge.

"Mhm! Help!" someone moans. Nui rolls her eyes and walks back to the bridge. The man she attacked with a baton got unconscious for a while and influenced by a few life fibers Nui inserted so that he keeps quiet during the trip to the coast. Apparently the influence has ended automatically. He seems to believe that they arrived in a port. Nui opens the door and looks at the worried man, who notices her.

"Man, why would you do that?!" the man asks Nui angry, trying to kick her with his leg. Nui squats down, looking at the man.

"Make yourself useful, little human. The first thing you say after waking up is "help." Nui jokes cold.

"Grr..."

"Since you are awake... what day do we have?" Nui asks curiously and smiles kindly.

"You let me go if I tell you, right?"

"Which day do we have today?" Nui asks more impatiently. The man notices Nui's scar and the fibers moving through it.

"What is that thing on your eye?!"

"Life fibers." she smiles.

"Life fibers!? Wait... the... the hair, and this face, that... I know who you are! Aren't you that fucking tailor bitch from REVOCS!?"

Nui smiles as a reaction.

"You... you are the reason why this fucking Life Fiber sickness exists?!" And you laugh about it?"

"Of course, why shouldn't I? Besides, what is that Life Fiber sickness? Sounds funny. What does it do?"

"BECAUSE OF THAT SICKNESS MY WIFE DIED, YOU WHORE! WAIT UNTIL I GET YOU!" the man screams. Nui laughs. 

"Your poor wife, I bet she had a cruel death." Nui answers sassy and smiles. When she stands up to leave the man, he suddenly frees himself as the ropes Nui used to keep the man as a hostage weren't as strong as they looked like. He jumps at Nui and hits her into the face.

Nui defends herself by punching the face of this thirty year old man. And again. And again. Thanks to Nui's Life fiber body, her attacks are stronger by default, which is why the man sustains a bad wound onto his face. He coughs blood but continues attacking Nui. Then he takes the baton Nui used and hits her with it. The Grand Couturier gets hit on the arm and the upper body, until Nui kicks him away, drawing the baton to her with a few life fibers that spread out of her fingers. She still is not strong enough to change body parts like her arms to make them weapons, which is why she has to rely on her other abilities and usual weapons. Nui throws the baton onto the man who falls down after being hit in the face with it. After that, she sits onto the mans torso, laying her legs onto his arms. With a murderous but satisfied face expression she looks into the face of the man and starts to strangle him, smiling while doing that.

"You... gr... gr..." he mumbles. Nui strangles even harder, and she enjoys it. The man then activates a harpoon that lies behind them, shooting Nui into her leg. Nui lets off of him. He pushes off Nui and breathes air, then runs to a safety box hanging on the wall, taking out a pistol which is already loaded. Panicly, he is able to shoot Nui.

Nui get's shot seven times. Three shots into her chest, two into the shoulders, two in the head. All Nui does is smile while the man has to see how she regenerates. He panics as he sees that his attack didn't help at all. The young, psychopathic woman regenerates, attacking the man briefly before he finishes reloading the weapon. She throws the weapon away and throws him to the ship's console which leads the anchor to fall down.

"Stupid little human." she smiles and uses life fibers to drag the man to her. He falls with his head onto the ground. Blood spreads onto the ground, and the wounds on his head look ugly and surely have to hurt, but it gets worse, once Nui rips out the safety box that hung onto the wall.

"So much fun in such a short time." she says surprised, smiles and then proceeds to slam the safety box brutally onto the head of the man. And again. And again. And again. And with every hit, the head opens more and more, until the brain gets visible, and she still continues, because she hates humans. The man tries to do something but it is too late for him. Spasms are visible and all he is able to do is one last sad breath, until Nui throws the Box onto his head. His head get's crushed slightly. The bridge is a real mess now, and Nui herself is covered in blood. She breathes some air. She shakes her head in disbelief.

"Could have survived, poop head." she chanters and leaves the bridge. She jumps into the water on purpose to clean off the blood, and then she swims out and walks to the highway that leads to Tokyo. From here, it's about two hours of march. At least that's what she guesses. Nui breathes some more air and then starts walking.

A bit later...

"Lady Satsuki..." says Ira Gamagoori via the phone.

"Ira. How many times do I have to tell you that I was Lady Satsuki?" Satsuki smiles.

"My apologies. My ideals still shine through as you know. I can't change that easily." he laughs. 

"I know. I'm not accusing you of anything." she answers.

"How are you doing, Lady Satsuki?"

"I'm fine. A bit tired, like always, but other than that... if it wouldn't be for the morning where I had to go out, the day would have been better, but I find joy in the thought of visiting the cinema with my sister today."

"I'm glad to hear that, Lady... Satsuki." he smiles, because he said it again.

"How is your family doing?"

"They're fine. Thanks to my help we've been able to renovate a nice little mansion. Without me it would have taken a few dozens of years. That's why you should always eat up when you are young."

"Unless you want trouble?" Satsuki laughs.

"Haha! You should come visit us when you have some spare time. You'll probably like it, even though if it wont meet your standards of a mansion you would prefer."

"Ira, when it comes to friends, I'm not selective. Oh... Ryuko asked me yesterday if I could ask you how Mako Mankanshoku is doing." Satsuki mentions.

"Ah. Mankanshoku is doing well. She does miss Ryuko a lot though. However, I'm trying to cheer her up whenever we meet each other. I like her. She's a fine women. Bit weird, but I guess we all are weird in our own ways."

"Mhm. Yes, you always talk a bit different when we talk about her."

"Thats... well that's not entirely right, Lady Satsuki!"

"You said it again." Satsuki giggles.

"Hrmpf. I'll learn it eventually." Gamagoori answers proudly.

"My dear friend, I will see if I can find some time next week to visit you. Inumuta was trying to help me regarding a potential buyer of REVOCS. He told me about one. That's why it has to wait, I'm afraid."

"I see. Well, it's good that you called me. I will send you an invitation next week to remind you, if you allow it."

"Of course, Ira."

"Very well. I wish you a good day and hopefully an entertaining evening, Sat...suki. Hah!"

"See. It works!"

"Haha! Seems like I do learn faster than I thought!" Gamagoori laughs. Both friends say good bye and put their phones away. Then, Satsuki walks to the couch and sits onto it. She can't await the evening with Ryuko anymore.

At the same time, Ryuko works in the call center, boring herself to death. She didn't had to answer a call yet. That is a blessing and a curse at the same time. Curse, because time just won't fly off, and blessing because the stress stays at zero percent. That's why she watches the coast by looking out of the window wall. The sun looks nice today, although it won't stay up much longer. She smiles with the pining thought of Senketsu watching her every time she sees the sun.

"... a lot of things would be much easier if you would still be here, Senketsu. Imagine you'd work here too... hehe, gosh, that would be absurd." she thinks and needs to laugh a bit. The thought of her best friend watching over her is comforting but sad. And it was only "clothes." She never really got over his death. Whenever she thinks of her dad, she has to think of Senketsu and vice versa. Then she yawns and leans back into the chair she sits on, taking a look at the clock. She's almost allowed to go to home after such an boring day. With a ticket she is allowed to take the train to Tokyo - that ticket has been bought yesterday already. Ryuko already smells the popcorn. She kinda likes it.

"It's gonna be awesome, Satsuki. First cinema, then something good at the restaurant. Man..." she thinks and grins happily.

Time goes by and around 3 PM, Ryuko finally can go home again. Since it's a saturday, her working time is a bit different. While she travels to her home again, Tokyo still is full of live. Between the groups of people, Nui sneaks through them, negatively surprised about how less changed here. Didn't the world suffer at all from Ragyo's and her plans? Did Shinra Koketsu fail? And what is that Life Fiber Sickness? To answer that question, she walks to the REVOCS complex and it's industrial area. The main building and tower is well visible from the plaza of Tokyo already, and from here you can already get a good idea of how big the complex truly is. Several kilometers to be exact. The smell of the city and of the humans grosses Nui out, and only with effort she is able to walk through the masses of humans, disguised as her Alter Ego Shinjiro Nagita. While walking through the city, she's being pushed by several people, which is sadly nothing unusual. Satsuki had to experience it too. Normally, Nui wouldn't be so annoyed and rather happy like she always is, but right now all she wants to know is why nothing really happened here. Then she notices Satsuki Kiryuin on one of the monitors.

"So you are still alive, sweet Satsuki?" she thinks curiously and slowly arrives in the industrial areas of Tokyo. They're not really quiet, but even uglier than the city itself already is. The gigantic REVOCS-Tower is perfectly visible. Relieved, she continues walking and turns herself back into her true form while she is in the shadows. The relieve doesn't hold long though when she realizes there are humans guarding the entrance. Nui tries to get past them but they stop her.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going, Lady?" one of the guards asks. Nui looks confused at the guard and shakes her head, then she continues walking. The guards follow her confused, and then one of them pushes her to them.

"Hey! Entrace is not allowed for people like you! You better go now!" one of the guards screams annoyed and holds a baton ready. Nui pinches her eyes."

"Careful, little guard." she says and forces the guard to let her go. Then the guards see the scar in her eye and consider a second time if what they just did was a good idea. Nui smiles when they realize what is going on.

"But..." one of the guards tries to say.

"Careeeeeefulllll..." she answers a second time and continues walking. She arrives in the inner parts of the REVOCS complex, which is covered. Building these huge roofs took years obviously. Plants and flowers grow or hang at the walls, and the white, steril walls and red ground deliver a very elitarian and noble feeling. Banner of REVOCS still hang around, and the temperature is fully alright. However, back then, there was a very slight scent of lily to smell. Today the building stinks just like any other factory you can find in Tokyo, which does annoy Nui a little bit, although she does not show it. It gets more annoying as she arrives at the reception.

"Who are you and what are you doing here? What are these clothes? God! You look terrible! How did you come in!?" the receptionist asks annoyed, looking at Nui's dirty and cheap clothes. It gets even more weird when he sees that her hair looks fine more or less, in contrast to the bad clothes.

"You stupid little human really think you could ask ME what I am doing in MY home?" Nui asks confused.

"Stupid little human? Who the hell are you!?" the receptionist asks angry. Again, Nui pinches her eyes. What is going on here?

"I am your boss. Nui Harime, Grand Couturier of REVOCS. But of course individuals like you forget there is something superior so it doesn't make you look like you are worthless. Which you are, by the way." she says mockingly. 

"Nui Harime?! Didn't you die during an accident? How is this possible!? And what is that scar in your eye, is..." and suddenly, the man stops talking when Nui uses life fibers to control his mind. His eyes become red and fibers shine through them. Annoyed, Nui moves on and enters one of the many elevators that give a great sight onto the industrial area, since their walls are made of thick glass, strong like concrete. Getting that concrete like walls was pretty expensive, but then again, this is REVOCS. REVOCS can buy it. The higher she comes with the elevator, the nobler and prettier the floors become. She can also see one of the many stitching halls she once controlled, but now they are inactive. No one is working there anymore. Still, she does not know what is going on here. There aren't even COVERS or crates with Life fibers left. Time to ask Lady Ragyo, she thinks.

Arriving in the highest floor, the elevator opens and Nui enters the lobby of the presidential office - the office and home of Lady Ragyo. The quarters of the Grand Couturier are also located here, next to the office where Hoomaru works in. A lot of portraits of Lady Ragyo hang here, and some of the most famous and beloved REVOCS posters hang here too. Speaking of Hoomaru, Nui can hear her talking on the other side of the door. The Life Fiber being smiles mischievous to mock her "friend" a bit before asking Lady Ragyo what is going on. Hoomaru seems to have finished the call now. At the very least she stopped talking. Nui opens the door, entering Hoomarus office which is located before Lady Ragyos and next to Nui Harime's. A huge, half circle like desk with a monitor and several shelfs full of documents stand here. Behind the desk and the chair Hoomaru sits on, there is a huge, imposant logo of REVOCS. If you walk to the right side of the desk, there are stairs that lead up to the presidential office of Ragyo Kiryuin. The walls are white and the interior is modern, and there are red carpets on the ground. Temperature is also comfortable.

Hoomaru can't really believe Nui Harime standing in front of her all of a sudden. Nui never really treated her with respect since she is a human. However: Nui does like Hoomaru far more than any other human and there are times. Nui never says it, but she kind of considers Hoomaru as a friend - just the way how she treats her friend is extremly questionable. On the other hand, Nui herself is a questionable person to say the last, and she probably doesn't even really know how to handle friends. Anyway: Having a friend like Nui is something no one except Hoomaru can say, so that is something.

[Soundtrack (right click to open in new tab)](https://youtu.be/VA0X_S_9KQY)

"Hoomaru! You look great!" Nui smiles. Hoomaru nods and clears her throat. She still wears the same suit like always, the only difference to find is that the REVOCS logo has disappeared. Her hair style didn't changed either. Except for the personality and ideals, Hoomaru is still the same.

"...Nui?" Hoomaru asks surprised.

"So! What's my favorite human up to, and more importantly, how are you doing?!" Nui asks curiously, looking at Hoomaru with huge eyes and a big smile.

"Well... I'm fine, I suppose. That is... a surprising coincidence, seeing you here."

"Oh? Well, Hoomaru! Is Lady Ragyo here? I need to talk to her!" Nui mentions and walks up the stairs. Hoomarus pulse rises, and she quickly stands up to catch up with Nui. Nui won't harm her, she knows that, except for delivering some insulting jokes and sentences. Nui slams open the door of the presidential office.

"Lady Ragyooooo, I'm heeereee!" Nui says happily and looks around.

Lady Ragyo is gone. And the office itself is pretty much empty too. All the pictures of her that hung on the walls are gone. All that is left is the desk, the chair at it, a chair at the huge window wall that gives a great overview of Tokyo and a few flowers. Nui is confused.

"Lady Ragyo?" she asks. Hoomaru doesn't say a single word. Nui looks at Hoomaru, worried, and opens the door to her room. The room is completely empty. Not a single piece of furniture is left. Nui slowly turns her head back to Hoomaru. She watches Hoomaru carefully. Hoomaru tries to say something, but she just looks down with her head. The young woman hesitates at first.

"... Lady Ragyo is dead." Hoomaru says cold.

"... what?"

"Lady Ragyo committed suicide after Ryuko Matoi... *inhales* ... after Ryuko Matoi destroyed Shinra Koketsu." Hoomaru explains and exhales. Nui looks at Hoomaru in disbelief. Hoomaru wouldn't lie to Nui, at least that's what Nui believes. Hoomaru has too much respect towards Nui for that, and she probably is also scared a bit. She looks at Nui slightly worried. It's obvious that, while she is not scared, she definitely feels uncomfortable having Nui around here, especially after saying that her "mother" has died and Shinra Koketsu has been destroyed - which was meant to be Nuis masterpiece. Something indestructible, so powerful nothing can stop it. Not even a stupid woman with a Kamui. Nui slowly walks to the desk, touching the cold surface with her equally cold hands. After that, she slowly walks to the window walls, looking down.

"... which day is it, Hoomaru?" Nui asks calm, but Hoomaru can hear how heavy those words are to speak for the former Grand Couturier. Nui is not sad or anything, it's more of an extremly disappointed feeling. Undoubtedly uncomfortable at the very least, as Nui does not know how to comprehend feelings and emotions, or if she does, she never really learned it.

"... today is the 23rd of November, 2030." Hoomaru answers. Nui looks at her eye patch she took with her. She holds it tight, then inhales and exhales with her nose, and then she puts the eye patch back into the pocket.

"Five years?" 

"Five years, yes. I'm sorry, Nui." Hoomaru answers. Nui reacts with a smile.

"Oh... of course you are. That makes me the CEO of REVOCS then." Nui grins.

"No."

Nui turns around, looking at Hoomaru with huge eyes. What did she just say?

"Since you were considered dead, you of course couldn't have become heir of REVOCS, which is why Satsuki Kiryuin is the new CEO."

"Kiryuin..." she mumbles.

"... and Matoi is alive too?"

"Yes. Both of them are still alive. They offered me to capitulate. I accepted the offer. If I didn't, they probably would have killed me too. Trust me... I did what I could to avenge Lady Ragyo and you." Hoomaru explains, but Nui does not care.

"Shinra Koketsu... Matoi destroyed Shinra Koketsu..." she mumbles and has to giggle a bit in disbelief. It sounds so stupid for Nui she can only laugh about it. And that she does.

"MATOI DESTROYED SHINRA KOKETSU!?" Nui screams angry, and then, all of a sudden, she just smiles again.

"Yes, she... she..."

"What is wrong, Hoomaru, you seem scared. We both are alone now. No REVOCS. No COVERS. Just me and my best human friend!" Nui grins. Hoomaru smiles back and nods, although it's not really serious of course. She's just playing along.

"Yes. Just you and me." Hoomaru answers so that Nui doesn't do anything stupid.

"... so, Nui. What's your plan. What are you going to do?" she continues to ask, seemingly loyal to Nui's unknown cause.

"Oh, we have to talk about a lot, my dear, but FIRST, I need a bath, something to eat AND my clothes!" Nui mentions and walks to her quarter just to see it's almost empty too.

"Well... there are still one or two of your dresses left in the ware house, but regarding food and a bath... oh well, we will find something for you."

"Of course we will, love." Nui answers. Hoomaru and Nui walk back to Hoomarus oofice. While Nui enters the elevator, Hoomaru writes a quick note and puts it onto her desk, then turning off the computer. The secretary then enters the elevator with Nui. She does not know what to think of Nui's return, but what she does know is her trying to find a way to calm Nui down and not do anything stupid. All in good time is what she thinks. First of all she wants to calm Nui a bit down to get her at least a tad more kinder and friendly, although friendly is a word that is pretty relativ regarding Nui, and then she will continue with her plans. Handling Nui is dangerous as she is almost unpredictable, but luckily she has some experience with her already. She won't give up what Satsuki gave her. Not in a million years.

Around 6:10 PM, Ryuko is back at home in her mansion, preparing for the fun evening with Satsuki. It's snowy outside, and it got dark already. It's cold outside, but she's well protected in the living room and so she enjoys the few minutes that are left in her building before going to the trainyard to travel to Tokyo. Right now she puts on a nice red vest and a white shirt - such pretty clothes is something she usually wouldn't wear but she also can't deny the appeal. She still prefers usual stuff like hoodies, but since Satsuki invited her, she tries to make her happy by wearing noble and expensive stuff. Satsuki likes that. With a thick winter jacket she can take the train that arrives in 15 minutes - plenty of time to still get prepared as the trainyard isn't far away. She just drives to it with her motorcycle. It's totally alright for her to use it to pass short distances but when it comes to driving to Kisarazu, she uses the bus as it's dangerous for her and the other street participants. The Life Fiber sickness might not sound like much, but it does make peoples live worse. She's glad that she can endure it a bit better than others which is why she isn't too tired to work. The TV is still on while she puts on her clothes.

"...after almost 100 years after the second world war, increased terroristic attacks in the german empire have been noticed. Third message: A few days ago, a mysterious unknown flying object, an UFO, has been seen near the infamous Honnouji-Academy - the place where the terror realm of the former REVOCS corporation under Ragyo Kiryuin found an end. However, the object appears to be nothing more than a usual little rock. There is no reason to be afraid. This is the automatic news system of the prefecture of Chiba. We wish you a good evening." Ryuko can hear from the TV.

"UFO. Right." Ryuko mumbles and rolls with her eyes. She quickly walks to the kitchen to drink her glass of water. Then she turns off the TV. The moment she turns it off, she can see something crawling up the window. However, she doesn't care about it, as it seems to be nothing interesting, and besides, she can't really see what it is anyway. Maybe just some sort of weird rat or animal that lost it's way over their. After turning out the lights in the house, she walks back to the living room to turn it's lights off too, but as she takes a second look at the window, she see's more clearly that something crawls up.

It's life fibers. Ryuko looks confused and stays in the room for a few seconds, watching how there are actual life fibers crawling up the window wall of her room. Her mouth slowly opens in disbelief and she does not understand what the hell is going on here. Except for the rather quiet crawling of the fibers, she can't hear anything else... wait, there is something else. Footsteps. The fibers start glowing red, and then, the windows explode! Red smoke rises, and the glass shards fly into Ryukos direction. The sheer strength of the fiber explosion hurls her away and slams her into the wall behind her. She coughs, since the smoke is strong. The living room is barely visible for her. But the steps are getting louder and louder, until they find a hard ground. A silhouette appears in the smoke. Ryuko slowly crawls back, and as the smoke lifts, she finally see's who seems to be responsible for this chaos.

[Soundtrack (right click to open in new tab)](https://youtu.be/E39MbR7ofCc)

"Ryuko Matoi." the young man who Nui called Ichiro says. Calm, but with a slight smile, trimming his cute pink bowtie on his head.

"Ah... fuck." she quietly mumbles and stands up.

"I've been waiting for this for quite some time. It's truly interesting to see you with own eyes."

"And who are you, you stupid asshole?" Ryuko asks angry. Thanks to her life fiber body, she is able to form blade like arms.

"... they did tell me you are not kind, but why's that?" 

"I don't know, I'm not the one who destroys living rooms here." Ryuko counters. Ichiro smiles.

"No, but you do things the Life fibers do not like. A hybrid like you should be attracted to both humans and life fibers, don't you think?"

"If it counts as attracted when I kick your ass then I'm sure as hell am attracted!" she screams and attacks Ichiro. Ichiro easily dodges every single attack. Then he attacks Ryuko with his fist, hitting her face. Ryuko gets slammed against the bar of the kitchen, and a bit of blood spreads, as she sustains a slight wound on the back of her head. It hurts, but it could have ended worse. With his right arm he points at Ryuko, and Life fibers spread out from outside, trying to attack her. Ryuko punches them away and stands up. She attacks Ichiro a second time, forming her arms into blades, but she is not able to deal a hit. However, Ichiro grabs her left arm, slowly crushing it. Ryuko screams in pain, and blood floods. A pretty bad and ugly wound appears. Then he pushes Ryuko away. Ryuko falls down on her back, seeing the wound that does not regenerate for some reason. She is shocked.

"How is this possible?!"

"I wouldn't do that, Matoi. I need you alive." Ichiro smiles. Ryuko stands up and takes some distance from Ichiro. They both slowly walk around in a circle, but Ichiro seemingly enjoys Ryukos view. He also likes that Ryuko apparently does not know what she should do now.

"You remind me of that asshole that killed my dad." Ryuko mentions angry. Ichiro shrugs with his shoulders and smiles while looking into her eyes. Ryuko does not like this look at all, but she does find a chance to escape. She uses the chance and runs into the garden, where life fibers are awaiting her. They jump at her, but Ryuko can dodge in the last second. More and more fibers spread out to follow Ryuko, and only with a lot of effort she is able to flee out of her mansion. Ichiro giggles a bit and follows her. Every last fiber follows him.

Arriving in the dark forest behind the mansion, Ryuko shortly peeks out and sees Ichiro walking into her direction, but thanks to the bad light conditions, he apparently didn't saw her. She quickly plans what she wants to do now. The blood that spreads out of her wound tells Ichiro where she is since it lays in the snow. Confused, Ryuko runs through the forest, thinking about what to do next, and quick. Without a weapon she is not able to properly defend herself apparently, and the time is running. Then she reminds herself that her train is departing in a few minutes, and so she decides to run to the trainyard through the forest. While running, she hears the life fibers crawling, and Ichiros footsteps. She tries to hide her footsteps by hurling up snow, but it only works partially since the blood still is a huge problem. As Ichiro comes closer, she hides behind a tree.

"Matoiiii..." he slowly whispers calmly. Carefully peeking out of the tree, she sees Ichiro walking around, with life fibers following him. Some of the split up to search Ryuko. 

"Fuck." she mumbles quietly to herself and waits. The snow fall got stronger, and the sight becomes even worse than it already is. She is unbelievably cold and shivers. After a few seconds, Ryuko gains distance to Ichiro, and she quietly sneaks away from the tree. Treetops are making noises thanks to the fibers and the snow. Ichiro turns around, seeing Ryuko's foot disappearing behind a bush.

"You play Hide and seek like someone else before you." Ichiro mentions and walks towards Ryukos direction. The steps are getting louder, and all of a sudden, Ryuko's hair is pulled.

"Found you." he grins. Ryuko hits his torso with her fist, but he does not care at all. She looks deeply into his face. He looks awfully similar to Nui Harime.

"Who the fuck are you!?" 

"How impatient." he mentions and launches Ryuko into a tree a few meters away. Ryuko moans of pain, and when she stands up she sees Ichiro coming closer. He removes the snow that fell onto his shoulder with one hand.

Ryuko starts running even though her back, head and arm pains badly. She breathes for air and runs faster. Life fibers follow her. As fast as she can she runs through the forest, and the wind howls. With one hand she holds the wound on her arm and does not even think about looking back. All she wants is to run away from this powerful enemy. Ichiro however is as fast as she is by liquifying his body to crawl over the ground.

"WHAT KIND OF CRAZY IDIOT IS THIS GUY!?" she screams scared and sprints. She can't run any faster. Life fibers catch up with her and jump onto her legs. Ryuko falls down with her face into the snow and the wound. The wound burns badly. The life fibers drag Ryuko to Ichiro who turns back into a human, looking satisfied at Ryuko.

"Always running away, always escaping." he mumbles. Ryuko kicks Ichiros legs which make him walk back a few steps, and when she stands up, she continues running, but the train starts driving away.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?" she screams and runs to the train. The train briefly drives through a short part of the forest until it drives down a huge plateau near to the highway. Ichiro follows Ryuko. Ryuko sees how the train slowly drives down the plateau, and the only way of reaching the train in time is by running onto the highway and then jumping it down so she can land on the roof of the train before it disappears. No matter how crazy this idea sounds like for Ryuko, it might be her only way out of this situation. Stressed, she runs out of the forest and onto the highway, where cars are driving, and quick too. Luckily, Ichiro does not know anything about this train and only hears it sounds. From the highway itself the train is not visible anyway, you'd have to look down at the safety fences to see the train properly. While the train comes closer, Ryuko turns around and sees Ichiro slowly walking on the highway. The cars stopped moving and make noises, hoping that both Ryuko and Ichiro would leave the highway.

"There is no escape, Matoi." he smiles, moving his finger slowly from left to right a few times. He slowly moves to Ryuko. Ryuko stays at the safety fences. The train becomes louder and louder. She looks behind her and sees the train is almost here. Ichiro however spreads his arms to his left and right, as if he would like to welcome or hug Ryuko.

"Follow me, Matoi. Nothing will happen if you do, I promise." he claims. The young woman looks at Ichiro in distrust, and she lets her hand off her wound.

"You'll pay for my house, you asshole." she says angry and sees how the train arrives. A few more seconds and she has a chance to jump.

"You truly are unfriendly, my love."

"Love? Come on, tell me your name so I know exactly who I can engrave an "Ryuko kicked your balls!"" she screams angry. Ichiro giggles.

"My name is Ichiro. Ichiro Harime. Pleased to meet you, sweetheart." he answers. This sentence shocks Ryuko, and her eyes are getting bigger.

"... impossible." she mumbles. The train is extremly loud, and she notices she has to jump now. Ryuko jumps down. Ichiro runs to the safety fence but he can only see how Ryuko drives away on the roof of the train.

"Hm." he grumbles unimpressed. Civilians walk towards him.

"What the fuck is wrong with you? Get off the streets!" one of the civilians scream to him. Four civilians watch him, and more cars are not in sight at the moment. He rolls his eyes.

"Kill them. We'll go back to the mansion." Ichiro orders his life fibers. The life fibers jump onto the civilians and attack them, killing them quick and clean. The corpses slowly mutate into new fibers, and what was once left of an human disappears, as if no one human was ever there. Then there fibers follow their master back into the woods.

Ryuko crawls wounded on the roof of the train, slowly moving to one of the waggons. Carefully climbing down the roof, she enters one of the waggons by force. The wagoon is warm, well enlightened and quiet. The light however blinds in the first moment. Ryuko gets used to it rather quick though and walks up the stairs to the upper floor of the waggon. She still bleeds and her shirt is ruined. The wounded woman sits onto a seat for four people and leans back into the seat, in and exhaling, taking a better look at the wound. Ichiro's sheer strength fatally wounded her arm. For a normal human, the arm would have no use anymore, but luckily, she is a hybrid, and therefore the wound will regenerate, although it will take a few hours up to a day or two. She does not complain though, it's better than losing the arm entirely. She covers the wound up but blood still flows out, at least a bit. Ryuko tries to calm down a bit to process what happened. 

Ichiro Harime... is that some kind of brother? She doesn't know it and right now she isn't really in the mood to know it anyway. She just wants to get to her sister to tell her what just happened. The evening is probably ruined. A few hours of travelling with the train passes. Ryuko doesn't take a look outside, and she feels tired too. While driving to Tokyo, Ichiro went back to the Matoi-Mansion, looking around. His life fibers crawl through the place, searching for useful stuff. Ichiro himself also takes a closer look. With a special communication system, the life fibers can talk to each other without actually using words and vocals. He finds images of Ryuko and Satsuki, notebooks, but nothing really interesting. Then he can hear Ryukos smartphone in her living room, and he calmly walks back to it. There, he notices besides the phone a ticket for a train. It's a two ways ticket for Tokyo and back to Chiba. Satsuki is calling Ryuko. Ichiro waits until the call ends.

"Tokyo main trainyard..." he reads quietly. A message appears shortly after on Ryukos phone.

"Are you on your way to my apartment already, Ryuko?" Satsuki wrote. He connects both pieces and then smiles.

"So you want to visit Tokyo, Matoi? Good... me too..."


	5. Chapter 4: The Nightmare That Never Ended

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryuko meets up with Satsuki in her apartment in Tokyo, while Nui seems to have an idea in mind to fight against her Doppelgänger...

[Soundtrack (right click to open in new tab)](https://youtu.be/LXCjpOC9F74)

The sun slowly goes down. Boats cruise over the ocean of the Bay of Tokyo. In the background, the noises of the sinking Honnouji-Academy are audible. The huge fortress like building slowly sinks down, until nothing is left of it. The boats split up.

"So, Mako! What's the plan? Where are we heading?" Ryuko asks her friend Mako with a slight smile.

"Mum and Dad say that we go to Mie! We lived there years ago, but back then I was super small!"

"Huh, cooleo." Ryuko answers. Mako nods and smiles, then she jumps onto a little chair on top of the boat. Ryuko follows her and sits down as well. They enjoy watching the sun slowly go down. Ryuko smiles a bit as the sun reminds her of Senketsu. Time to let the past go.

Days pass. Ryuko's new family travels a while through the various prefectures of Japan. Mountains, Rivers, huge cities... these are things they see throughout their journey to the prefecture of Mie. What makes Mie so special is the city of Ise, which contains the holiest Shinto-Buddhism shrine of Japan. After all this time, Ryuko finally found a family that might be a bit weird but even kinder. She feels welcome in the Mankanshoku family, and that's the important thing. And then there's always Satsuki and her friends that will support her whenever she needs help. Satsuki travels to Tokyo to reluctantly accept her heritage as new head of the REVOCS corporation. Removing REVOCS from the entire world would be a task that would take hundreds of years to finish and even then, nearly impossible, as it would increase the unemployment rate in the entire world. And besides, it would start a hunt onto Satsuki thanks to her decision, not to mention the dozens of factories that will be rendered inactive.

After about two weeks, the Mankanshoku family finally arrives the little village in Mie - located in a beautiful valley, and a forest around it. It does appear lonely, but on the other hand very idyllic and quiet, and if you want to buy stuff like food or just want to have some fun and entertainment, you can take the highway to the next city. With bicycles, visiting that city only takes about one hour - might sound like a lot, but the advantage is a nature that is not harmed, which is important for a prefecture like this. And besides - the world more or less is so full of urban areas, there really isn't much nature left thanks to the gigantic industries of companies, and this includes not just REVOCS. However, the home of the Mankanshokus is pretty much ruined after this long journey, and so the family gains help from other villagers in order to build a new proper home. Building this house takes days and everyone, even their pet Guts has to help. Well, Guts catches little wood planks and delivers them to the others. One day, Ryuko and Mako sit on the roof, working on it.

"Phew... pretty exhausting." Ryuko mentions and wipes off the sweat drops from her head. Mako giggles.

"But it's fun!" 

"Yeah, that's true. By the way, did Gamagoori called you already?" Ryuko asks curious.

"Oh! Yes, he did! He asked me if I had time to eat something with him next week!" she smiles happily. Ryuko laughs.

"For real now?"

"YES! I hope they have croquettes!"

"What kind of restaurant do you guys visit?"

"It's a SUSHI BAR!" she says and smiles happily. Ryuko raises her eyebrows.

"... I don't think they do..."

"YOU THINK THEY MAKE CROQUETTES OUT OF FISH?!"

"... I..."

"MUM! I HAVE A GREAT IDEA FOR SUPPER!" Mako screams to her mother Sukuyo. Ryuko swallows.

"Oh boy..." she mumbles.

After a few hours, they both slowly lack of wood planks for the roof of the house. Ryuko decides to climb down. She walks to the small ware house in the village to get some new planks. Thanks to her life fiber body she can carry more than other humans. The villagers don't know of her being Life fiber and so they just think Ryuko is a pretty strong woman. Especially some of the young men and women are impressed of Ryuko, which kind of makes her proud. There werent a lot of people who thought that Ryuko is cool. In fact, she was mostly just seen as a weirdo, and the many fights she had during her time in school as well as being bullied didn't help either. She's still wondering what happened to the old gang she was in back then, and how her old home at the Ox Elementary school looks like. Or if it even exists. Walking out of the ware house with a pile of planks on her shoulders, she goes back to the house of the Mankanshokus. But then, all of a sudden, everything goes dark. Red life fibers appear in the shadows, slowly enlightening the darkness in red colors. Ryuko drops the planks, and then, she can hear someone giggling in the background. The young woman turns around and sees Nui Harime approaching her, slowly, with black arms and both parts of the Scissor blade. She smiles evil, looking at Ryuko.

"What a beautiful little house you are building, Ryuko!"

"You again." Ryuko answers and bites her teeth together. Nui plays around with the blades a little bit.

"Be honest, you love to see me. Seeing me always reminds you of how you might have a chance of avenging your stupid dead daddy." Nui smiles.

"Shut up before I'll make you regret it." 

"Ooooooh, I'm so scared. You saved your little world but not your daddy, well, how unfortunate. Must be pretty tough to know that, hmmmm?" Nui provokes. Ryuko slowly walks towards Nui, angry, and exhausted from seeing her. She stands right before Nui, head to head. Nui's smile is huge.

"Get the fuck out of my head, Harime. You're dead. And you'll stay dead." Ryuko says unwavered. Life fibers slowly crawl to Ryuko, making her unable to move. She is not able to defend herself. Nui proceeds to hold both parts of the scissor blade between her and Ryuko's head. Closing the blades would decapitate both of them.

"You always say that as if it would be something bad. *Sigh* ... I wish you would be dead too. We could have so much fun together. Don't forget, Ryuko: Love and hate are two sides of the same coin." Nui giggles and slowly closes the blades. Blood flows out of Nui's neck as it slowly cuts open, and as Nui's neck is half cut, the blades start to make Ryuko bleed as well. Nui grins throughout the process.

"Stop it!" Ryuko screams angry. Nui giggles.

"Are you scared, Ryuko?" Nui asks curious. Ryuko doesn't answer.

"Look at you... always so brave but now you're scared. You are cute." Nui says and closes the blades. Her head falls off, with a smile in her face, and shortly after, Ryuko's head starts bleeding even badlier. The blades cut through her neck, and as she is about to lose her head, she suddenly hears someone talking.

"Hey! Wake up, Miss Matoi." a conductor says. Ryuko looks around, confused and unsure what just happened. Her heart beats fast.

"Who, what... where... ah fuck..." she mumbles exhausted. It was a nightmare. 

"I always forget that you have the Life fiber sickness. Anyway: are we visiting Tokyo again?" the conductor asks curiously. He notices the wound on Ryukos arm.

"Ah... uh, yeah, where else should I go, hehe." she answers grinning and clears her throat.

"You do have a bad wound on you arm. I can bring you some bandages if you'd like." the man suggests.

"Oh uh, nah it's fine, I... I can heal my wounds fairly quick, I'm a pretty healthy person, you know." she grins unsure. The conductor slowly nods in disbelief.

"Well if you say so... now, can I see your ticket, please?" the man continues to ask. Ryuko thinks briefly and puts her hand into her pockets, but she notices quickly her ticket is not with her.

"Ah, shit." 

"This happens on a regular base, Miss Matoi."

"Yes, I know, I know..." Ryuko answers and sighs. The man shakes his head annoyed.

"Well, I'll make sure Miss Kiryuin gets a message. Like always."

"Mhm." Ryuko grumbles. The conductor moves on, while Ryuko leans back into her seat, looking out of the window of the train. The train is pretty modern and has a slight Science fiction flair. The closer the train gets to Tokyo, the more walls are visible. While the area around Tokyo is more or less idyllic, even though it basically is only a lot of farms, the city itself is the very definition of an urban area. Stores, houses, skyscrapers, government buildings: it doesn't matter which direction you look at, there's always something made out of concrete. There are walls on the monorails partially so that no anarchist or criminal starts vandalizing or even saobtage the rail system, because that happened a few times already. That's why you can't really enjoy the look at the few but beautiful attractions of Tokyo. The lights on the walls are bright and enlight the tunnel like rails. After about twenty more minutes, the train arrives at the main trainyard of Tokyo. Ryuko stands up and moves to the entrance of the waggon. People are everywhere, but this quickly changes as she leaves the train and walks down the stairs of the, on a huge bridge built trainyard. With every step she walks down, the poverty gets more and more visible. Steam rises from the alleys, yellow lights enlighten the darkness, and homeless or drunk people walk through the street. This city surely has seen far better times before the second World War and the first battle against the life fibers. Luckily for her, Satsuki's apartment isn't far away from the trainyard, and so she walks to it quickly, and stressed. 

People watch Ryuko as the clothes she wears are noble compared to the ones the normal citizens wear. With her winter jacket she could have been able to hide these clothes, but this makes things far difficult for here, and it's still cold. At the very least, snow doesn't fall anymore. The only thing that relieves her is the fact that almost no one knows how Ryuko Matoi looks like. People do know she is second in command regarding REVOCS, but she never went into public. Satsuki is the face of REVOCS, not Ryuko. She also notices that she doesn't have her phone with her. Cars drive through the streets, citizens push each other away, and so, Ryuko does the same, because time is running and she does not know if Ichiro was able to follow her. It's important to tell Satsuki as soon as possible what happened so that they both can plan their next move. There is something like a cold war happening on the streets. Almost everyone hates each other, but no one openly admits it, but pushing and sometimes kicking away other people to get to the target is nothing unusual here, and in fact, almost something like a rule. And the police here doesn't really intervene. 

Arriving at the plaza of Tokyo, a weird contrast is visible. People are partying here into the night and seem to have a lot of fun. Violence is nothing new around here either, but apparently the party people don't mind that too much as long there is enough alcohol and drugs. It's another indicator for how crazy this world has gone after the end of Ragyo's reign. Back then, it was different. Life fibers were evil, yes, but people were also more civilized as everyone had the same stylish clothes, which made a class system less obvious unlike today. Today it's completely different sadly.

Eventually, Ryuko arrives at the skyscraper in which Satsuki lives and opens the door quickly. She walks to the elevator and starts it. Her wound isn't bleeding anymore, but it still burns like hell. Via the elevator she arrives in the 22th floor and knocks onto her door. The door opens and Satsuki appears, looking confused at Ryuko. Then, Satsuki notices the wound.

"Ryuko, what..." and now Ryuko hugs Satsuki. Satsuki kept her short hair.

"Satsuki... man, I'm so glad to see you." she mumbles relieved. Satsuki hugs Ryuko a bit more until they both walk to the living room.

"You look horrible. What happened, sister? And what is it about this wound?" 

"We have to talk, Satsuki, we got a huge fucking problem." Ryuko says.

At the same time at a different location in Tokyo...

"mjam* "Wow, Hoomaru! This restaurant surely is not as bad as the others in this ugly town!" Nui grins, disguised as her Alter Ego Shinjiro Nagita. Hoomaru nods and clears her throat. Nui has a huge plate with various kinds of fish and some salad. She likes to eat fish, but only the noble and expensive one. Something as perfect as Nui, at least that's what she believes, only of course want's the best. Hoomaru is not hungry, and she can't be blamed for that either. If all of a sudden someone appears that you thought of had died, and then it's someone that treated you rather poorly and now expects you to help... well, everyone wouldn't be hungry then. Nui enjoys eating the food.

"So... Nui. You got your eye back, that is very... pleasant to see, I assume." Hoomaru says. Nui nods smiling. She seems to feel better than before now, thanks to the bath she had a few hours ago.

"Now, Hoomaru, my dear. Tell me what happened while I was busy being dead." Nui says.

"Hm, well... Satsuki took over REVOCS and I'm allowed to work for her, but other than that, people walk around with cheap clothes which honestly annoys me... but other than that there's nothing interesting, at least not for you." Hoomaru explains. Nui continues to eat.

"What are we going to do now? How should we continue Lady Ragyo's plan?" she asks. Hoomaru doesn't like asking this. Even though some of Ragyo's ideals shine through her until today, she is convinced about Satsukis ambitions being rightful.

"Lady Ragyo's plans have to wait!"

"What?"

"Hoomaru, you and me, we have a problem. There is a cool guy who can use cool powers to make cool things with them, BUT: I hate him. So that's why he as to die. Once he is dead, we can deal with the other douchebags." Nui explains. Hoomaru raises her eyebrows confused.

"And who would that be?"

"Oh, you know... his name is Ichiro Harime, pretty cute little boy, sadly a buffoon, nothing concerning." she smiles.

"Well, that shouldn't be a problem for you then, right? I mean... you are far stronger than all the other fools we met so far."

"Oh... well, this fool is stronger than me, and I hate that. We need to be smart and we need weapons! Is the old fiber factory still intact?"

"You mean the old one we used for experiments, the one in Nara at the Ômine mountain? Yeah, I think it was never cleared. At the very least, Satsuki never ordered that, but she probably didn't knew about it."

"Great! Then we should visit it as soon as possible!" Nui says happily.

"As soon as possible? Shouldn't I tell Satsuki that'll be gone for a while?"

"Pff, nah. Satsuki is a stupid cow." Nui grins. Hoomaru has to genuinely giggle briefly before she gets herself together again.

"As you wish, Nui." Hoomaru answers. Nui cleans her mouth and smiles. Seems like she is satisfied. Shortly after, a waiter arrives and takes the plate with him. They both stand up and walk outside, arriving at the plaza of Tokyo - a lot is going on here right now, as Ryuko already saw a few minutes ago, and the night life is starting. It's 9 PM right now. The plaza is a few kilometers away from the REVOCS industrial area. Satsukis Apartment is visible here, but luckily, Nui doesn't know where she lives.

"This was by far the less worst restaurant I've ate at." Nui laughs. Hoomaru nods smiling. Recent songs are audible in the background. The music is loud and annoying, and the slight steam that leaves the alleys and streets makes staying not exactly an enjoyable time.

"Bet you were pretty hungry." Hoomaru mentions.

"Oooooh you can't imagine how hungry."

"Can we please leave the streets, Harime? It's disgusting here." Hoomaru suggests. Nui nods and walks off the street with Hoomaru, arriving at a uber parking spot.

"So, to Nara?" Hoomaru asks.

"Yes!" 

"Good. But we should go tomorrow. Tokyo is pretty lively at this moment. Taking a uber will take about three hours until we actually get out of the city, and I doubt you want to sit in the car the entire night?"

"Nope."

"Then we should go to my apartment, I guess...?"

"Yes!" Nui answers. Hoomaru nods and inhales, then exhales to let off some stress.

"Soroi, I hope you saw the note." Hoomaru thinks...

"ARGH, FUCK!" Ryuko gripes painful.

"Hold still." Satsuki says, bandaging Ryukos wound, which she does rather well, even though Ryuko does this on a more or less involuntarily base, fidgeting around. But now that Satsuki is done, the wound does feel better now, and she appears more relieved.

"Thanks, Sis." Ryuko says grateful.

"No problem. So. This "Ichiro" seems to be pretty powerful if he can almost break your arm withou using a weapon that can cut life fibers." Satsuki mentions unimpressed. Ryuko nods.

"Well I wasn't in the mood to find out how much more powerful he really is. But this is clear so far: his name's Harime, he looks like Harime, he is strong, he has a bad taste of fashion and he is an ass."

"I don't doubt that."

"... well, sorry for ruining the evening, I didn't thought a douchebag like him would just appear out of nowhere."

"Of course, Ryuko, it's totally fine. You are here and safe now. He probably doesn't even know where you are right now. The worst thing he could know is that you've went to Tokyo thanks to the ticket you forgot at home, but luckily Tokyo is a gigantic city and full of idiots." Satsuki mentions and yawns briefly.

"I guess. Well, this was all more exhausting than expected." says Satsuki and smiles.

"Heh, yeah. Now what?"

"Now we are going to watch a movie. Going to the cinema won't work anymore but that doesn't mean we couldn't have some fun and watch a movie or two here. That's why I always have some snacks in the kitchen. We'll see what we do tomorrow. It's probably best if we talk with Mikisugi and ask for some help." Satsuki suggests and gives Ryuko a glass of water which she drinks. 

"Sounds good. Better than nothing."

"Yes."

"And what's with REVOCS?"

"Honestly... REVOCS couldn't interested me less at the moment. Besides, our new friend won't be able to achieve power about this symbol of shame as he has to make himself the owner of it. And I do not know how he should do that. Besides, Houka will notice it when something happens."

"Ah. Fair enough." Ryuko answers. Satsuki walks into the kitchen, opening a closet while Ryuko takes off her red vest to that the shirt she wears feels more comfortable. Then she leans back into the couch and relaxes a bit. Shortly after, Satsuki appears out of the kitchen with some tasty snacks. They both start watching a fun action movie, and the atmosphere is good, even though a crazy psychopath just tried to kill Ryuko. And the warm living room makes everything even more comfortable. They both sit on the couch, having some blankets while munching a few crisps and chocolate bars. Around 11 PM, they both agree that it's late and that it's time to sleep. Ryuko and Satsuki sleep in the same room since it's huge enough for it. The big sister also gets a nice and huge mattress and lays it down, putting some sheets onto it and a warm blanket. Before going to bed, they talk a little bit, but they are already in their beds. Ryuko wears a red pyjama, Satsuki a blue one.

"... oh, Mankanshoku is fine according to Gamagoori. He sometimes visits her." Satsuki mentions.

"That's good. Your friend always watches over her, hm?" Ryuko notices and smiles. She lays her head onto the pillow and then she looks up to the ceiling. It's quiet for a short while. Satsuki watches the window. On the left side of the door, Satsuki lies in her huge, white colored bed with blue blanket and matress. About six meters in front of the bed is a huge window wall, and in the left corner of the room are a few closets with clothes and a little shelf with books. Ryuko is in the upper right corner of the room, lying at the window wall, which is why she has a great view onto the city if she decides to look out.

"Kinda relaxing, seeing all those people walking around down there, barely hearing them. They look like ants." 

"Hm, you'll get used to it though. These people don't have any respect. I experience this bad behaviour every time I am forced to walk the streets of this cursed city."

"Mhm. You still don't wanna move to Chiba?"

"Not yet, no. Once Houka and I are done with REVOCS, I'll consider it surely. I can't and wont lead an organisation like this. Every once in a while I think my ambitions were destined to never be fulfilled. The oath I swore was never fulfilled."

"Don't be too harsh on you. We both couldn't have known shit would go south after Ragyo's death. And honestly... this is still better than fighting day for day against some crazy aliens made out of clothes, right?" Ryuko giggles. Satsuki grumbles a bit.

"This mistake should have never happened." Satsuki answers annoyed. Ryuko does not answer. She doesn't know what to answer anyway.

"Well, anyway. It's time to sleep." Ryuko suggests and lies down a bit more comfortable. Satsuki nods and turns off the lights of the room.

"Good night, Ryuko."

"Good night, Satsuki." Ryuko says. Ryuko takes a look out of the window. As ugly as Tokyo is if you take a closer look - from up here, it looks pretty interesting, especially in the night and when people are partying thanks to the bright and various colours. She slowly starts to sleep although she has headaches, as she is thinking about Senketsu the entire time. Would the battle have had a different result if Senketsu would have been there...?

Sometime later during the night.

[Soundtrack (right click to open in new tab)](https://youtu.be/4DulATLEmNA)

COVERS soldiers move through some kind of underground tunnel system on the same level the sewers of Tokyo are located. Homeless people sleep here. It's unbelievably cold and uncomfortable here, but surely better than staying out in the open and dealing with the snow, the cold temperature and the citizens of Tokyo. This place undoubtly had been built in secret a while ago, but the question is, who built it and why. In any case, via an overpass, the four COVERS soldiers find themselves back on the other side of the sewers. They open a door that leads to a huge platform like elevator, with enough space for up to fourty people and wares to transport. This elevator leads into the so called "Lower City" of Tokyo.

The lower city of Tokyo is a huge abandoned complex seemingly built by the government for homeless and poor people. This is their "home." Here, the people dislike everyone, and no one trusts each other, and the people who are in charge use their power over the poor people for their own advantage - especially the COVERS sympathizers. No one dares to confront them. Small huts built out of metal, plywood and concrete hang on the walls and various floors of the lower city. There are probably more districts and not just this one as one might assume thanks to Tokyo's size and the signs at the entrance next to the elevator that say "District 3." Without doubt, this is an immensely ugly place no one really wants to live in. There is almost no daylight - maybe a few little rays that shine through every once in a while, but other than that, the only light sources come from the lamps and headlights in and above the lower city. There is barely enough electricity for everyone who lives here as well. The COVERS soldiers move through the main part of the city, pushing homeless and poor people away to get to their headquarter. The headquarter is located at the other end of the city, and reaching it takes some time thanks to the labyrinth like structure of the city, with stairs and concrete ladders everywhere.

After a few minutes, the soldiers eventually arrive at the headquarter and step into it. The follower of Ragyo Kiryuin wear light armor, supposedly made out of life fiber, but of course this is a huge lie. The clothes they wear does not even work as armor at all, but the people down here are so poor educated and lost that they would believe everything. These COVERS sympathizers gain new recruits this way. Poor people find a purpose in live by joining the COVERS forces - for the righteous cause, as clothing is the original sin. At least that's what they are told. Everything appears to be like a swamp, but an urban one.

The group of soldiers arrive in the room of the leader - a room that is equally ruined and dirty, but banners of REVOCS hang around. Blueprints of COVERS can be found too, hanging on a blackboard, but every attempt on recreating one has failed obviously. What surprises is that the leader of this bunch of COVERS followers is just a young man, about twenty years old, with glasses, short brown hair and a pretty much innocent face. To be more precise, he is the only one who really does not belong here according to his appearance, but on the other hand, people listen to him. How is this possible?

"Masaru Yamamoto. We've came back. The assault on the clothing factory of Tokugawa-Corps was a success, however, two of our team members died." one of the soldiers mentions and takes off his dirty looking helmet. The young man with the glasses who seems to be Masaru nods and thinks.

"Fine... hm... well, we have to be more strategic and careful now. Thanks to our good friend Hirata it is possible that we might be able to find a deal with REVOCS. If we can get Miss Kiryuin to make a deal with us, it might be possible to take her out for good and take over the control of REVOCS by ourselves. It shouldn't be too much of a problem dealing with that Matoi woman either." Masaru answers. He wears a brown jacket and trousers. He does not even sound dangerous. One of the soldiers, Hirata apparently, takes a few steps forward.

"Masaru is right. I will meet up with a man this week who seems to work for Satsuki Kiryuin. Unfortunately I don't know his name yet, however, I do think that it's possible we could..." Hirata explains and is interrupted by a second soldier who giggles and moves forward, shaking his head.

"You are really cute." the soldier says. The followers look at him confused.

"I wasn't even done yet. Why do you interrupt me?" Hirata asks. The man takes off his helmet. It's Ichiro Harime. He inhales and exhales briefly, then he smiles.

"A remarkably commitment for a cause you don't know anything about. I only know you "humans" for a few days and I'm already excited to see what kind of stupid stuff you will come up next. My predecessor certainly had a lot of fun with you."

"And you are?" Masaru asks worried. Ichiro disintegrates the cheap armor he wears and regenerates his usual outfit, the pink vest and the yellow trousers. It's obvious now that Ichiro is not a normal human. He trims his cute little tie on his head.

"The thing you seem to strive for." he answers and pats the head of a soldier.

"Br..." Ichiro says disgusted due to the feeling of the hair. He turns his head back to Masaru and walks around him.

"So you are the head of this "organisation" of funny little humans who seriously try to follow in the footsteps of the life fibers?" he asks curious and leans his head to Masaru. Masaru clears his throat worried.

"Let him alone." one of the soldiers say and aims with his weapon towards Ichiro. Ichiro grins and turns his head to the soldier. The other soldiers aim at Ichiro as well.

"You wouldn't shoot someone as perfect as me in the face, would you?"

"Let's see how perfect you are." the soldier says.

"Lovely." Ichiro answers and draws life fibers out of his hands. He starts attacking the five soldiers from which two were guarding the room, and the three he was walking with. Masaru sits there, shocked, as he sees how the life fibers Ichiro uses attack the soldiers, burning into them. The attack is too fast to react properly, and so they are not able to make a move and start shooting. While the five soldiers are slowly corrupted by the life fibers, two more soldiers enter the room, attacking Ichiro with melee weapons - a sword and a baseball bat. Ichiro turns his head around and smiles.

"AAAARRRGHHH!" they scream to scare Ichiro, but it's needless to say he is unimpressed. Ichiro reacts quickly with a brief giggle and forms his arm into a blade, effortlessly ripping off their necks. Blood spreads, and the dying soldiers gurgle, trying to stay alive, and one of them looks at Ichiro in disbelief and hatred.

"Weakling." he says to the soldier and kicks his foot against the chin, decapitating the soldier, who's corpse falls to it's back. The soldiers that have been attacked by the life fibers Ichiro sent out are on the ground, dying in this very moment, as their skin slowly turns slightly red. After a few more seconds, everyone is dead and the fibers crawl back to Ichiro. He collects them and smiles at Masaru, who is scared.

[Soundtrack (right click to open in new tab)](https://youtu.be/ml0yxG5TOwQ)

"Now how is it possible that a young man like you is scared by death, and what is more important... how did it come that you are the one leading this bunch of weaklings?" Ichiro asks confused and looks at the corpses.

"I... well..." he stutters. Ichiro turns his head back to Masaru.

"Stay calm. Inhale... and exhale. You and me, we are on the same... wave length. Same ideals, same interestes, and certainly the same gruesome humor. You wouldn't cry about these "individuals", would you?" he asks.

"No, of course... not... they..." he stutters. Ichiro grins. 

"So... a COVERS sympathizer and their leader as well."

"Yes... sir."

"Ah... and you would surely speed up the evolution of humanity the way it should have always been?"

"... well, let's say REVOCS gave me a purpose in life. I... I'm certainly not agreeing with everything REVOCS and Ragyo Kiryuin had in mind, but I... they needed a head of security and I knew a lot about programming and... uh..." Masaru says, unsure of what he should answer next.

"You seem scared. Do I scare you?"

Masaru does not answer.

"No one will harm you. Only I can." he smiles and laughs slightly.

"..."

"... your dear friend Hirata sadly has gone from us, what a shame, I know, but I'm certain you can be quite useful. You are weak, and a clown, but that's what I love about you humans... you all are equally worthless. But you know exactly you are, otherwise you wouldn't sit here, and that's what makes you... interesting."

"... so... you are real life fiber, yes?" Masaru asks cautious. Ichiro draws some life fiber out of his hands and shows it to Masaru.

"This... is true life fiber."

"... and you want to destroy this world just like Miss Kiryuin back then?" Masaru asks naive. Ichiro looks surprised. Then, he laughs.

"Destroy!? No! No, no, no! No... not this time."

"What... then?"

"You'll see. I expect far more from a leader, faaaaarrr more, but I assume I have to lower my expectations when working with you humans. Now tell me a few things about you and REVOCS, because I'd love to visit it..."

The next morning

Hoomaru wakes up. She yawns, and her back hurts a bit. She wears a white pyjama. Apparently, she was sleeping on the wrong side, but it could also be because she had to sleep on the couch - where else should she sleep, Nui always has to have the best she can get. She relaxes by practicing a short muscle relaxation and then stands up. Her hair is woozy, but that's normal when she wakes up. Her little apartment is located in the inner city of Tokyo. At the morning, there isn't much going on. A few people drive around here and there, but other than that it's quiet. It's been a pretty busy night, there's no doubt about it when she takes a look at all the bottles, papers and the food that lays on the ground outside. Besides, it's sunday and therefore there aren't a lot of people outside anyway. Hoomaru continues to brush her teeth and then walks into the kitchen to cook water for a tea, until she hears Nui in her room. With a cautious look, Hoomaru walks to the door of her room and listens with an ear. It's not as quiet as it should be. Is that Nui stuttering? Cautiously she opens the door and looks at Nui. She is awake, and she sits in the corner of the small room, with an extremly scared face expression. Hoomaru is surprised and slowly walks towards Nui.

"Nui, what happend?!" Hoomaru asks worried. Nui looks at Hoomaru, with huge and scared eyes. She is genuinely scared apparently.

"Hoomaru...? ... is this just a bad joke or is this all real!?"

"What do you...?"

"I SACRIFICED MYSELF FOR LADY RAGYO! THIS ISN'T FUNNY, ICHIRO!" she says loud and smiles scared, then she giggles. She seems to not know how to react on a situation like this. Hoomaru walks towards Nui and holds her shoulders, then she looks into her eyes, trying to conform her.

"Hey!" Hoomaru says. Nui looks at Hoomaru and suddenly becomes quiet.

"It's alright, Harime. Whatever happened, you are in the real world and alive."

"... are you sure?" she asks.

"Yeah, pretty much. At least I didn't saw binary codes popping up in the air." Hoomaru answers. Nui nods and thinks briefly. Then she smiles.

"Hoomaru! I'm very happy to see you around here. Finally a human that isn't as worthless as the rest of the bunch of clowns!" she smiles and stands up. Nui wears a purple pyjama. Nui simply walks out of the room. Hoomaru is speechless, and the entire situation is very uncomfortable, even a bit scary.

"Please Soroi, I hope you got my message..." Hoomaru thinks worried.

Some time later...

"So? How's it looking with the wound?" Satsuki asks her sister Ryuko who munches a little snack right now.

"Better. Still burns like hell but at least the wound is healed for the most part." Ryuko answers relieved. Satsuki nods.

"So what are you going to do when REVOCS is sold?"

"I don't know. With the money that belongs to both of us I could... pff... I don't know, maybe open a restaurant? Honestly... I never thought about this as much as I should have. So far, there was almost no one who considered actually buying REVOCS. At least not really. But Houka says this man who wants to buy REVOCS or at least parts of it seems to be very interested in it."

"We know this guy?"

"I only know his first name. Hirata. CEO of a company called HY-Tech, spoken like High tech. I don't know, it's a weird idea for a name but if he likes it. Anyway... for a small company they seem to be pretty rich, and I don't like that. This is fishy to me. That's why Houka investigates before we actually talk but if the man is serious about all of this then we might have a deal."

"Cool." Ryuko answers and munches some more. There is a thought though that keeps her busy, and Satsuki notices that.

"You know... I wonder if I could have beaten that asshole yesterday if I would have had Senketsu..." Ryuko thinks loudly.

"Senketsu is dead. There is no sense in thinking about it." Satsuki answers.

"I guess..." Ryuko answers melancholic . Satsuki puts on a thick winter jacket to hide her noble suit she wears, and to resist the cold outside.

"I know it's not easy without him. But in the end, he was nothing more than a uniform. Don't grief too much. You think a lot about him, and that hurts you. It's not the first time you have to deal with serious head aches or stomach pain." Satsuki mentions and walks to the door. Ryuko sighs.

"Mhm." 

"You lay down a few more minutes. I'll see for my car to warm up a bit. It's been a few months since I drove it. When I'm done, we can drive to Ôsaka to meet up with Nonon. She'll give us a warm place to sleep at while we are there." Satsuki explains. Ryuko nods, and then Satsuki leaves the apartment, closing the door. Ryuko looks at the ground and holds her hands on her face.

While Satsuki looks at the car, not much is happening at the REVOCS industrial area. Satsuki's servant and butler Soroi works here and keeps the presidential office clean. It serves as a reason to continue work for Satsuki, but the main reason why he is still there is to take a look at Hoomaru every once in a while. She might found redemption thanks to Satsuki, however it wouldn't hurt still watching over her. The work is enjoyable and quiet as not a lot of people visit the presidential office, and Hoomaru is good to talk with. She and Soroi sometimes eat together for lunch when they have break. However, Soroi notices fast that Hoomaru is not in the office, as it is still cold here. Normally, it would be warm here. He also notices that neither her computer is on, nor there are documents on the desk. It's concering as Hoomaru usually is always in time and reliable. The lights are on though. Soroi looks around suspicious. He is older, and that is obvious, as he walks a bit slower than usual.

"Miss Hoomaru?" he asks calm but determined. No answer. Soroi walks to her desk to look after notes, and he finds one quickly. With a frown he sees a note laying on the desk. If Hoomaru would have been sick, she would have called Soroi, but since she did not, there has to be a different reason. He reads the note.

"Soroi,

Nui Harime appeared in the office. I don't have time or the opportunity to tell Lady Kiryuin as that would make Harime suspicious. Tell her as soon as possible! I'll make sure Harime doesn't do anything stupid.

Hoomaru."

Soroi puts the note away and takes the phone quickly. He tries to call Satsuki. The connection builds up. Ryuko notices the phone call and walks to the phone, but then, Soroi hears something in the presidential office. Maybe it is Hoomaru after all? At the very least, steps are audible. He puts away the phone to take a look.

"Hello?" Ryuko says into the phone. Soroi can't hear Ryuko though as he got older, his ears aren't the best anymore.

"Hoomaru? It's me, Ryuko? What do you need?" Ryuko asks. Soroi walks up the stairs and notices the office is open. Confused, he walks into it to take a look. The doors to Ragyo Kiryuins and Nui Harimes rooms are open. He pinches his eyes a bit, until he hears someone giggling. The chair at the desk turns around."Mitsuzô Soroi? I've heard a few things about your nephew. Talented tailor, knows how to work with life fibers. I'd love to visit him one day." Ichiro grins...

  
Ryuko is confused. She puts the phone away and stops the call. Then she waits for Satsuki. Her sister arrived in the garage, driving out the car out of it and letting the motor work for a while. She has a white sports car, pretty expensive and modern, but she didn't drove it for months since she didn't really had a reason to do so. She normally drives via Uber as this makes it less obvious that someone as rich as her is in the area. Besides, the car is obviously better than most, and so it is an eye catcher for the people here in Tokyo, since most drive with simple and cheap ones. Satsuki does not sink that much though. It's annoying enough for her to wear cheap and dirty clothes like everyone else to not be noticed. The car is warm inside and the seats are very comfortable. Windows are coloured in a dark blue color to make identifying the driver more difficult. And the interior is also very appealing. The seats are black as well. She drives with her car a few blocks around. This takes around fifteen minutes, but now she is confident that she knows what she is doing again. Doing a few short practice drives surely wouldn't harm, especially after months of not driving at all. Satisfied, she drives to a huge car park that has a connection to the highway. That's why she does not park her car in the garage of the skyscraper. There's no need to waste time after all. Satsuki leaves the car, locks it and then sees a train driving on the monorail. She gets a call on her phone. Accepting the call, she notices it is Houka Inumuta. Houka talks with Satsuki while she walks back to her apartment.

"Houka?"

"Hello Satsuki."

"What is it?"

"I was collecting data on this "HY-Tech" company until I got a message on my laptop, telling me that the data on the REVOCS guide lines and contracts have been changed. Did you maybe forget to tell me you changed something?" Houka asks confused. 

"I do not remember issuing a change in the contracts or data in general. Might have been a system issue or an amateur of COVERS."

"REVOCS has a good security system regarding the data as you know. I'm certain it was not an amateur, and I can not imagine there is an issue with the system itself - I've tested it dozens of times.

"Hm... then probably something is wrong. Houka, I'll speak to you soon. I need you to travel to Ôsaka and meet up with Nonon or Sanageyama. Ryuko and me will be there soon as well."

"To Nonon? I thought she is busy? And Sanageyama... give me one good reason why I should go there." Houka asks.

"Too long to tell on the phone. Trust me, I need you in Ôsaka. I'll tell you what is going when you and the others are with us."

"... *sigh*. Very well, Satsuki. I'll see that I can join you as soon as possible."

"Thank you, and thanks for letting me know." Satsuki answers. 

"Of course, Satsuki." Houka answers and stops the call. Satsuki walks into the elevator. She thinks about what might have changed something on the data of the REVOCS corporation? Entering the hall, she looks surprised when she sees her servant Soroi.

"Soroi!?" Satsuki notices surprised. Her servant should be at REVOCS and not here. He knocks at the apartment door. Ryuko stands up.

"What are you doing here?" she asks. Soroi turns to Satsuki. He looks strange... it's as if he isn't he himself.

"My lady..." 

"Soroi, what is it and why are you here, answer me." she orders and walks towards Soroi.

"Don't!" Soroi says loud. Satsuki is unimpressed and comes closer, until she notices life fibers moving through his eyes.

"Oh no..." she mumbles worried.

"Lady Satsuki... he wants REVOCS. You need to go..." Soroi explains. Something inside him is fighting against him. Is it the life fibers that try to control him? Is that the reason he is capable of speaking more or less normally even though it's the life fibers who control his body? Ryuko approaches the door.

"Finally, was about time Satsuki comes back." Ryuko mumbles.

"Lady Satsuki... he will hunt you and your sister down... you need to go before... oh... god..." he mumbles painful. Satsuki takes a step back as she sees Soroi slowly glowing up red, quickly, and painful too. Red fibers light up inside his body, and as Ryuko opens the door, Soroi all of a sudden explodes. The explosion shreds him apart, blood spreads, and due to heat of the life fibers, a fire starts. Half of the 22th floor is annihilated, and fire spreads. Satsuki bangs with her body against the wall next to the elevator, and her head hits the wall. She moans in pain. Life fibers crawl through the hall.

Ryuko quickly stands up and removes the fire on her body, then she runs into the hall. If you are not careful, you could fall down the entire building and die a horrible death. She notices Satsuki.

"Satsuki! Ryuko calls worried and runs to Satsuki.

"SOROI!" Satsuki screams. All that is left of him is the few shredded clothes, a large pool of blood and life fibers feasting on it. Ryuko helps Satsuki stand up. Blood drops down the floor. All of a sudden, several new explosions are audible. Windows break, pipes burst open, and fire spreads through the building. And then, there is another explosion, apparently above them. The 22th floor as well as parts of the third to 18th floor exploded, and the 25th floor is completely annihilated. The roof burns, and smoke rises. Then they can hear the elevator fall down the elevator shaft as an result of the 25th floor being gone now. A huge bang is audible - the elevator is on the ground now. 

"Soroi..." Satsuki mumbles in disbelief.

"Come on, Satsuki! I got a feeling this asshole Harime knows where we are!" Ryuko orders and looks at Satsuki. Her suit is dirty thanks to the explosion, and Ryuko doesn't look too good either, with her red vest and shirt stained with Soroi's blood and fire that damaged the clothes badly. With her strength, she opens the elevator doors. And now she is sure that the elevator is gone.

"Fuck." she says annoyed. Satsuki runs to the stairwell but it's destroyed for the most part too thanks to the explosions.

"Well the stairs won't work either, I suppose." Satsuki says annoyed and walks back into the hall. They search for an exit route stressed, but can't find one. At least none that is obvious, until they see a pile of life fibers crawling from the outer wall of the skyscraper into the hall, and Ichiro materializes out of it.

[Soundtrack (right click to open in new tab)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sB57P8LSfCM&feature=emb_title)

"Well, well, both sisters are here, indeed." he smiles.

"You..." Ryuko says angry. Satsuki looks at Ichiro with a murderous face expression.

"Lady Satsuki, I've heard you always treated your servants very poor, why would you care about the death of such an worthless individual like Mitsuzô Soroi?" he grins.

"Worthless individual..." she mumbles evil.

"He would be thankful, for he does not know what will happen in the future. Now... I know you both lovely sisters will find out a way out of this undoubtedly miserable situation because you apparently always do, at least that's what I've been told." Ichiro explains. Ryuko runs at Ichiro angry, attacking him, Ichiro however effortlessly dodges. He creates a pile of life fibers which he throws to Ryuko. It explodes in front of Ryuko, slamming her against the wall next to the elevator shaft. Blood appears behind the wall.

"Soroi was a friend." Satsuki says evil.

"Oh, was he? Well, I tend to say to have a few less friends that are actually useful instead of thousands that are just as worthless as Soroi himself... otherwise, it wouldn't make much of a difference anyway. Now, I wish both of you a lot of fun trying to get out of this very unlucky situation while I'll take good care of REVOCS. We don't want it to rot while you are presumed dead, right?" Ichiro laughs and bows before Satsuki. She remains calm and watches how Ichiro escapes. Ryuko stands up.

"Great guy, isn't he?"

"Save your jokes for another time, Ryuko. Do you have an idea of how we should escape?" Satsuki asks annoyed.

"Besides jumping out? Nah, not really."

"I won't jump, Ryuko." Satsuki mentions. They can hear another explosion, but it was probably not caused by life fibers, but by pipes or something else that has been used for the skyscraper. The floor slowly starts to break apart. 

"Where's your car?" Ryuko asks.

"At the parking lot, what... no, Ryuko." Satsuki says annoyed.

"You prefer to die?"

"There has to be a different way!" Satsuki says. The ground is teared apart, and they can see the hall of the 21th floor partially already. The ground below Satsuki is about to break apart as well. That's enough for Ryuko.

"Apologies in advance, Sis!" Ryuko says and grabs her sister at the arm with as much power as possible, so much that it actually hurts Satsuki.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" she screams shocked. Ryuko jumps out of the skyscraper, and Satsuki is forced as well, falling out of it with Ryuko.

"RYUKOOOOO!" she screams angry, while Ryuko tries to control the fall. The parking lot is near the skyscraper. People are running way and panic, and huge amounts of humans start watching what is happening at the skyscraper. Half of the skyscraper is burning. This action was surely planned by Ichiro, he couldn't have done that all by himself without the help of the COVERS sympathizers. Both sisters fall towards the roof of the parking lot. Ryuko throws Satsuki above her with her life fiber strength.

"FUCK!" she screams panicked. She wouldn't be that scared if she would wear Junketsu as it would lower the fall damage a lot but without, she truly is just a mere human. Ryuko uses her life fiber abilities to form her body briefly before slamming on the roof. Satsuki tries to stay above Ryuko. Her younger sister extends her body, which is extremly painful for her, but it also allows her body to be more flexible and it takes up more space, and as Ryuko falls onto the ground, blood spreads. Ryuko moans in pain. Shortly after, Satsuki falls onto Ryuko, decreasing the damage she would have sustained immensily, thus surviving the fall thanks to Ryuko's life fiber ability. It's painful nonetheless. Satsuki crawls off Ryuko painful, while Ryuko forms her body back into a normal human. Luckily for Ryuko, everyone has left the parking lot already as it is too close to the skyscraper. Ryuko regenerates as she is half dead obviously, but she slowly starts to move again. She turns around, laying on the back now, and looks up to the skyscraper.

She starts laughing knowing that she saved her sister. Satsuki probably sprained a few bones but that's certainly better than being dead. Ryuko wouldn't have a problem dying of course.

"We won't do this again. NEVER AGAIN, RYUKO!" Satsuki screams angry.

"Sure, Satsuki... no problem... always happy to help." Ryuko says and stands up.

The skyscraper burns. Huge parts of it are shred and the people inside it have no idea of how to escape. It's a horrific scenery in Tokyo. Ichiro probably asked Soroi out about Satsuki and then corrupted him with a powerful life fiber strand. And he probably wasn't the only one considering that Ichiro went for the COVERS sympathizers as well.

In any case, the situation is for both sisters extremly clear now. The death of Ragyo and the Life Fiber sickness did not mark the end of the war against the life fibers. It appears to be nothing else than a first wave, or a skirmish before the actual battle. In the end, Ragyo was just a human after all - a human that turned itself into life fibers. Who knows what is going to happen next. One thing is certain however.

This was just the beginning...


	6. Chapter 5: Pining For A Friend I Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "The lyrics mainly suggest the idea that missing someone – pining – can be a physical pain much like hunger." Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunger_of_the_Pine
> 
> Welcome to Shadows Of Our Past - and welcome in Ryuko's new life...

Datas are visible. Command lines are typed every second, and become visible on the monitors. They reflect Houka Inumuta, and he is stressed. Houka types stressed on his keyboard, his fingers feel like they would burn. Whoever was able to hack into the security systems of REVOCS has to know more about them than Houka does, and Houka knows a lot about them already. He tries to fight off the intruder, it's almost like a real fight.

But nothing helps, and so, Houka loses the control over the system. No matter what he types, his commands are not detected by the security system. He can only watch how commands and bots flood the monitors, all with the goal of taking over REVOCS systems. He moves back with his chair to take a proper look at all the 24 monitors in his room. He undoubtedly still is a data fanatic. But this won't help him. The commands suddenly stop, like everything else. The command lines reflect on his glasses. Houka can't find words, and his mouth opens shocked, as he stands up. A logo slowly appears part for part onto the monitors, and a word becomes visible.

Neo-REVOCS.

...

...

...

"This is the automatic news system of the prefecture of Tokyo: A skyscraper was target of what it appears to be an assault of the COVERS sympathizers. A huge part of the inhabitants died due to the attack, this includes the CEO of the worlds most infamous fashion corporation REVOCS, Satsuki Kiryuin, and it's vice president, Ryuko Matoi. Surprisingly, according to the contract of the REVOCS corporation, the heir of the organisation would go to a rather unknown person called Ichiro Harime. Supposedly, he is a relative of the former, so called "Grand Couturier", Nui Harime, however, he does not share her views and thoughts. Our prays go out for every family involved in this tragic and coward attack. We will also watch with huge interest how this new CEO will handle the corporation." the radio says. Satsuki switches the channels. Ryukos big sister is angry as it seems. Her bones hurt, but it's alright. Ryuko sits on the passengers seat, looking to the front side of the car. The cold way the news system talks about what happened in Tokyo feels uncomfortable and can reasonably make angry. Satsuki switches on a different channel where music runs. A new song should start soon. Snow falls here and there.

"And so we wish the people out there on the streets a great day. The next song will be one a few people will probably identify with, thinking about better times. In these times where a sickness plagues humanity it's even more important that we all never lose hope, even though life got worse for many of us. It's gonna be okay again. Ladies and Gentlemen, "Hunger of the Pine" from Alt-J." a man says via the radio. His voice sounds calm and comfortable.

[Main Theme - I advise you listen to it (right click to open in new tab)](https://youtu.be/ntcB_EB3dkY)

It's a melancholic song that can be heard. Satsuki focuses on the highway while Ryuko simply does nothing. She just sits on the passengers seat. Ryuko doesn't even make a certain face expression. It's clear however that she asks herself right now how all of this could have happened in such a short time. Life can make a 180 fairly fast. Their target is Ôsaka, visiting Nonon and eventually ask her where Nudist Beach is. It's clear that Satsuki however doesn't completely know either what to do. Junketsu and Senketsu do not exist anymore, the scissor blades are sunken deep in the Bay of Tokyo, and Nudist Beach has to be found first. Ryuko sinks her head. Her sister is worried.

"I know, Ryuko." Satsuki says calm. Ryuko does not react. Her big sister hesitates at first, looks back at the highway, then to Ryuko again.

"Lean back and try to sleep some more. This will be a long story." Satsuki mentions. Ryuko doesn't know if she should. She looks back onto the road. Cars are everywhere, snow falls, and clouds dominate the sky. Even though the car has a nice temperature, Ryuko feels cold. And she is indeed tired, just like Satsuki. Ryuko then does what Satsuki suggested and leans back, inhaling and exhaling through her nose briefly. Her thoughts slowly drift away from the car, Satsuki and what just happened in Tokyo. She starts thinking of Senketsu and Mako thanks to the song. Both friends are gone. Satsuki and Ryuko leave the area around Tokyo and find themselves back onto a about 50 meters high bridge. Ryuko turns her head slightly to the right, looking out of the window, watching the sun. Rays break through the clouds. A tear drops and slowly moves down her face. The sun reminds her of the uniform that always cared about her. Satsuki notices that her sister is sad even though she has a hard time understanding the sadness, since in Satsuki's opinion, Senketsu was still life fiber and therefore evil. On the other hand she also knows that Ryuko loved the uniform - maybe not in a romantic way, but like a very, very good friendship.

Ryuko thinks back, about the time she had to leave the village in Mie. For example the first day in the Matoi-Mansion. Everything was new and beautiful - strong colours, expensive interior, a pretty garden and a nice scent. But no matter how nice and luxurious the mansion Satsuki paid for Ryuko was, it never was able to replace the loss of Mako and Senketsu, or a second try for a new life. The life fiber sickness feasts on her will for years. She still knows how horrible the first night in the mansion was - horrible enough to never talk about it, not even to Satsuki.

Guilt feelings chase down the young woman. She feels guilty for the life fiber sickness, just like Satsuki, and even more about the fact she was never truly able to avenge the death of Isshin. At some point, she started to believe it because of the very sickness the world is plagued with. Ryuko bites her teeth together and holds her hands onto her face. The song makes her feel sad, Satsuki notices that, but she also believes that a pain like this is necessary - in the end, at least that's what she thinks, you have to face reality, as cruel as it is. No one is grateful, kindness is a weakness and only the strongest survive. According to the news, Satsuki and Ryuko are dead and REVOCS is founded a new, and renamed into Neo-REVOCS. How did this happen so quick? And why so easy too? An operation like this can't be planned in one night... can it?

Around afternoon, every four deva members watch TV in their homes. All of them have the same face expression - it shows disbelief and fear. The same thoughts go through their heads, and they all try to call Satsuki, but nothing helps. Houka packs his stuff to get to Ôsaka, hoping that Satsuki and Ryuko maybe actually did escape and all of this was just a fake. Gamagoori leaves his home as well - he loves all of them and he also cares for Mako, but Satsuki is very important to him, and so he travels to Ôsaka as well. He does not know that Satsuki is on her way to it, however, he thinks that he has to meet up with the others to talk about what happened and searching her together.

Houmaru sits at her window, ready to leave Tokyo, but she can't believe what happened here. The fire isn't far away from her apartment. Was that the deed of Ichiro Harime who Nui talked about? According to the media it was the COVERS sympathizers. Nui also noticed the attacks, but she doesn't care. Houmaru sighs and packs her bag with some clothes, then she visits the bathroom Nui is in. Nui is also ready to go, but she cuts her hair. It has to go, as a symbol of development. Whatever happened after Nui's death had to change her quite a bit. Houmaru knows that Nui loves her hair, just like everything else of her body and personality, which surprises her. Houmaru realizes that this Nui however is the one that lost her arms because she wasn't careful enough, and that is what Nui wants to show too. It leads to a heavy contrast regarding her dress, but that's probably the intention. She wants to appear unpredictable and dangerous. Houmaru does not ask, she just goes with it. Nui and her human friend see their reflection in the mirror. Nui does not smile at all - cutting hair isn't fun. The pigtails are gone, and only streaks are left. The combed hair hangs down now, up to the shoulders.

The first workers of REVOCS start to prepare everything in the industrial area, making everything ready for work again. A light enlightens the darkness of the huge stitching hall of the Grand Couturier, and sewing machines are audible. Masaru cautiously looks into the sacred room of Nui Harime where she once worked on Shinra Koketsu. Behind Masaru, his COVERS followers prepare to make the room ready for work again. Masaru watches Ichiro sitting at the huge work desk. He stitches something together.

The day passes. Minutes feel like hours during the car ride, and nothing interesting happens. All which stays is a feeling of pining for a friend Ryuko loves. That's all. Just a piercing grief by that very feeling. Snow falls the entire day, but the closer they come to Ôsaka, the more the weather changes. Back in Tokyo, everything was white due to the snow, but in Ôsaka it's rather soggy. Most of the snow has melted thanks to the booming industry of the city, and in general because of the urban painted Japan, in which nature has become less important than ever before. There aren't a lot of places where you can find a nice and beautiful place anymore.

The late evening arrives, and it's 9:22 PM. Satsuki wakes up Ryuko, who seems to have nodded off during the ride. Satsuki herself is tired as well, but at the very least they arrived in Ôsaka now. Sanageyama and Nonon live here. At night, Ôsaka is a quiet place where nothing happens. Yellow lights lighten up the darkness of the streets that are thanks to the heavy industry sometimes full of steam and fog. Satsuki and Ryuko drive through the poor districts of the city in which the fog is well visible. Here and there they can see one or two people walking around, but other than that it's quite silent here. After the end of REVOCS, the power of the capitalistic Takarada spread out even further, and a class system apparently developed, if not as huge as in Tokyo, thanks to the huge amounts of money everyone has here. Being poor is relative in Ôsaka - the worst thing that can happen to you is that you cannot afford visiting a theatre at the end of the month. Streets in Ôsaka are cold and uncomfortable but you can drive well on them with a car, and you don't have to worry about jealous people since everyone here can buy a expensive car. Arriving in the richer areas of the city, the difference regarding the architecture of the houses is visible.

While the poor districts still look decent and solid but not more, the richer districts have mansions with huge gardens, almost like a palace for everyone, just smaller and for about 1-5 persons, depending on the family. They remind Ryuko a bit of her own mansion, just not as impressive as her own. Satsuki really nailed it with the design of Ryukos mansion. During the day, a lot of people walk around and you can see something interesting everywhere. It's definitely much different than Tokyo. A few miles away, the walls of the huge Naniwa Kinman High school are visible, which still is the fortress and base of Ôsaka and Takaradas operations. A few minutes later, both sisters arrive at Nonon's little mansion - a nice, huge building with a second floor, window walls and noble white walls as well as a little wall for security against invaders and visibility. Surveillance cameras hang on the corners of the building. That's because Nonon is a local celebrity for quite some time now and leads concerts every once in a while. She is one of the reasons people travel to Ôsaka, and that's why she has a lot of contacts, even to Takarada and therefore Mikisugi. There is a base next to Kyoto which serves as the main base of Nudist Beach, however, since Mikisugi is quite busy, Satsuki can't be 100% sure if he is there or not. Takarada and Mikisugi work together however and he should know exactly where he is. In order to get to Takarada, Nonon has to talk with him. Letting Satsuki into the High school can become dangerous, even now that she is dead. No one knows how people would react to that.

Satsuki parks her car at the entrance and leaves it with Ryuko, locking it up. Her huge sister walks to the gate and opens it by entering a four digit code which opens the gate. She knows the code since Nonon told her in case she would visit her. They're best friends after all. The gate opens, and both sisters arrive at the front yard of the mansion. There is a path made out of white stones, and there's even a nice little fountain on the left. The lights here make up for a comfortable and welcoming feeling. Satsuki knocks on the door, and it opens.

"Uzu, I told you, you shoul..." mumbles Nonon and is shocked as she sees Satsuki. Her clothes looked better a while ago, and Ryuko's clothes are pretty ugly too and full of dirt. Nonon wears a red shirt with a white jeans, and she also has a pony tail now.

"SATSUKI, WHY THE FUCK DID YOU NOT CALL BACK!?" Nonon asks angry and hugs Satsuki relieved. Satsuki smiles, watching Nonon patting Ryukos shoulders with a slight smug face.

"I love you too, Nonon." Satsuki answers. Nonon leads them into her house. Her living room is minimalistic - a red carpet, a glass table, white stairs with glass fences, a couch, a TV and a shelf with some books. The other doors in the room lead to the kitchen, the storage room and a bathroom. Upstairs is Nonons room, a second bath room and a guest room for visitors. Ryuko notices the speakers in the various rooms. Both sisters sit down on the couch while Nonon jumps onto an comfy chair, leaning her head onto it.

"Nonon, I know you have a lot of questions, we..."

"So how exactly did your skyscraper went to heaven, why did it went to heaven and why the hell did a wannabe clown take over your company? And most importantly: how did you got out!?" Nonon asks impatient. Satsuki hesitates at first.

"Ryuko went into my apartment, wounded, talking about this "clown" as you call him. He attacked her. We wanted to visit Mikisugi today and we need your help to locate him for that, and of course we need your guest room if that is fine for you. I apologize for this rather spontaneous visit. In any case, after I got used to my car again, this man, Ichiro is his name, apparently knew where we were, and well, he blew up the skyscraper. Ryuko was bold enough to actually jump out of the building, taking me with her. If it wasn't for her life fiber abilities, I probably would be dead. However, I cannot explain how he got the control over REVOCS... but we need to stop this psychopath."

"Mhm. Alright, you guys get something to eat, you look tired and pretty bad. I'll prepare the guest room for both of you, and once we're done with breakfast, we go to Takarada. That little birdy is still crazy but he definitely knows where Mikisugi hangs around. I'll make sure he'll let you in, Satsuki." Nonon smiles.

"Thank you. Apologies again for storming your house." Satsuki answers grateful. Nonon shrugs with her shoulders.

"Oh it's alright, you should have seen what happened three weeks ago when Houka and Uzu were here."

"What do you mean?" Ryuko asks.

"Somehow, Uzu convinced Houka to start dancing on my table as if this is a night club. I think they did some sort of competition or bets and I had to suffer for it. Well, in short, they destroyed my table. Now I have a new one. And Uzu owes me money... and a drink." Nonon grins and stands up, preparing some food in the kitchen. Ryuko looks around. The living room is indeed comfortable to look at.

The evening is rather quiet. After Nonon prepared the guest room and gave her friends something to eat, Ryuko and Satsuki lay down. Satsuki always loved the interior and the way this mansion was built. It is a truly nice building Nonon lives in. Both start sleeping, hoping that Ichiro did not follow them to Nonon. Ryuko's sister is unsettled the entire night, which wakes Ryuko up. She can't do anything however, and waking up would just delay Satsukis nightmare due to the sickness. She watches Satsuki turning around in her bed nearly every one or two minutes, and she grabs the blanket tight. Ryuko sighs and tries to continue sleeping. Nonon and the Elite-four in general do not suffer from the life fiber sickness as they never used a Kamui. Chances were high they would have to suffer as well because of their Goku-uniforms, but they were lucky. Ryuko watches the moon one last time. It's beautiful.

The next day starts. After a short breakfast, Satsuki, Ryuko and Nonon continue to visit Takarada. He knows Satsuki will come thanks to Nonon who told him in a very "kind" way he should open the gates of his school for her. She also told the other four devas that they should meet up with her at the gates of the school. Gamagoori, Sanageyama and Inumuta don't know Satsuki and Ryuko are alive. They meet up in the city of Nara which lies in the east of Ôsaka. Arriving at the school, the three men exit their car and are surprised seeing Satsuki and Ryuko alive. Inumuta is visibly relieved, Gamagoori bows before Satsuki and Sanageyama nods towards Satsuki and Ryuko.

"Lady Satsuki, you are alive." Gamagoori says relieved and moves his head up to Satsuki. She cleaned her suit and has a blue tie now.

"Gamagoori, stand up. It's not like we are... members of a commitee or student council." Satsuki smiles slightly. Gamagoori nods.

"I said it again, did I?"

"Sooner or later you'll get the hang out of it." Satsuki answers.

"Satsuki, I thought you died, I... I lost control over the security systems." Houka says disappointed.

"Hey Nonon, what's up? You got a new table?" Sanageyama grins cheeky. Nonon slaps Sanageyama, then he giggles.

"That hurt."

"I hope so. Asshole." she grumbles and smiles. Sanageyama laughs. The group around Satsuki and Ryuko walks through the gate of the huge school, and they see about a dozen of students, heavily armed. Via a huge monitor on top of the gigantic school building, Takarada appears. He still sounds and looks like a nuisance.

[Soundtrack (right click to open in new tab)](https://youtu.be/MVNJyJfUSuc)

"AH WELL, WHO IS THAT WHO APPEARS IN MY REALM?" Takarada screams. Someone whispers something to him in the background. Takarada's eyes become huge, then he clears his throat and changes something on the camera and microphone apparently.

"He forgot to turn down the volume." Nonon whispers to Satsuki and Ryuko. Ryuko looks around. There are tents with money bags in the school yard, and money printing machines are everywhere. It's either some kind of weird project or Takarada embraces his money loving veins even more.

"Still as crazy as five years ago, hm?" Ryuko notices.

"Kaneo Takarada! I was hoping to never see your visage again, sadly life is very cruel to me and that's why I have to lower my standards to talk with a fool like you!" Satsuki answers loud. Takarada laughs, pretty quiet too for some reason.

"Well then join me in the office." he says very quiet.

"He's as stupid as he looks like." Nonon says grinning to Ryuko.

"Yeah I can tell." Ryuko answers. Satsuki walks through various halls of the school, moving from floor to floor until she meets up in the presidential office. 

"That's a neat outfit by the way, Ira." Nonon says. Gamagoori wears a huge flexible jacket and a brown suit which reminds a bit of his Goku-Uniform. The school yard is kind of uncomfortable, however, people seem to not care about the cold weather here. Money is everything apparently. Houka still wears his hoodie and Sanageyama a white jacket with green tanktop.

"Aint it cold for you, dude?" Ryuko asks Sanageyama.

"Cold? Nah, not at all." Sanageyama grins.

"Okay." Ryuko answers. In the background the group can hear overly glorifying music about money and finances which only "slightly" annoying. The monitor is turned off as Satsuki enters the room. She seems to talk with Takarada now.

"Tell me, Matoi, how did you survive this cowardly attack?" Gamagoori asks curious.

"Oh, you know... I suppose at certain times in your life you just gotta jump, if you get what I mean." Ryuko says cool. Gamagoori pinches his eyes, then nods.

"... you just gotta jump. Hm." he mumbles to himself.

"Oh by the way, Houka, I wanted to ask you if you could help me repair the TV in my room. It got damaged badly when I was doing some exercises." Sanageyama says. Suddenly, everyone looks at him confused. He looks around.

"What's wrong, guys?" he asks.

"How in the world can you think it's a good idea to exercise in the room where your TV is located?!" Gamagoori asks in disbelief.

"I've got some new tools to exercise but I didn't had the time to construct them properly and so I had to do my exercises in the living room last time." Sanageyama answers and grins.

"And why don't you just put them away?" Gamagoori continues.

"Because they were all unpacked, and the various parts were lying around in the room already. Of course I could have just left out the exercises for that day but then I would have not been able to beat my record."

"Which record?"

"Exercising for two hours a day. I'll do this for a few years already. Keeps someone fit, young and gives a good feeling. Finished 120 days in a row once, the current streak with the TV is 98 days at the moment so I still gotta do some more."

"Is it a TV from Hokkaido Electrics?"

"Yeah, why?" Sanageyama asks. Ryuko looks at Houka with a smirk. Houka smiles slightly.

"Well... I work at Hokkaido Electrics actually. I can tell some people they should work on your TV if you remind me again when this is all over." Ryuko grins.

"For real?"

"Sure."

"Cool. Thanks, man." Sanageyama answers satisfied. Then, all of a sudden, birds fly away from the roof of the school, and you can hear someone mocking around. Sounds like Satsuki. The monitor suddenly turns on and you can see Takarada lying on his desk. Satsuki is holding his jacket tight. He grins at Satsuki scared.

"HEY, HEY, HEY WE CAN TALK ABOUT THIS, SATSUKI, I DONT NEED MONEY, A FAVOUR WOULD..."

"Takarada, I do not negotiate with you and I do not share your view about money. Tell me where Mikisugi is." Satsuki says annoyed. The students look confused.

"You gotta excuse Satsuki, she can sometimes appear very direct." Nonon grins towards the students.

"Please, Satsuki, just a little fav..."

"Should I call Sanageyama? He will gladly negotiate with you." Satsuki suggests. Takarada's eyes become huge, and he swallows.

"AH! ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT, I'LL TELL YOU, GET OFF ME NOW, THAT HURTS!" he screams and moves around scared. Satsuki leaves off, then, Takaradas head falls onto his desk and his glasses fall down. He inhales quickly.

"You really are unfriendly, Satsuki."

"I was worse. Now talk."

"You know the base on that little island near Kyoto, Okishima? As far as I know, Mikisugi is there at the moment and he wont leave so soon. I'll tell them you're on your way."

"See, Takarada. It's that simple." Satsuki answers and walks back to the door.

"Yeah, yeah, now go before I..." Takarada mumbles. Satsuki turns her head, curious about what he is going to say next.

"... before I, uh..."

"Know your place, greedy pig." Satsuki says and leaves. She exits the school and meets up with her group. On the way outside, they see a group of 40 students, carrying bags filled with coins. They also, for some reason, wear a uniform made out of money. It looks hilarious. Sanageyama and Ryuko look at each other in disbelief and Satsuki shakes her head while the other three look at them curiously.

"Move away! Who do you think you are!" a student asks. 

"You got some neats suits, guys, you working in a bank or something?" Sanageyama grins sassy.

"Pathetic." Satsuki mumbles annoyed.

"These suits are the best the Naniwa Kinman High school can offer!"

"And why the hell do you guys need so many coins?" Nonon asks.

"It's ammo for our coin rifles!"

"Coin rifles!?" Gamagoori asks confused.

"They shoot coins!" another student says.

"You don't say." Nonon answers.

"Let's go." Satsuki orders. Ryuko looks perplexed. Coin rifles... welcome to Ôsaka. Now that it's daylight it's more obvious that even the poor people here can afford some expensive stuff. 

"Kinda glad Mako isn't here to be honest." Ryuko thinks and smiles. Mako probably would have raided the Takoyaki station near them. They enter their cars and start driving to Okishima.

A light goes on. Steps are audible and echo through a huge command center - old monitors for surveillance cameras, consoles that operate various rooms and doors that lead to other rooms like an arsenal or a huge stitching hall... and then, Houmaru appears in the room.

"From high to low life, hm?" Houmaru mumbles. Nui appears and walks into the huge room. It's cold but Nui does not care at all - thanks to her life fiber body cold weather won't harm her as long as she isn't weakened. Curiously she walks to the arsenal and opens the room. Everything is in there still. Pistols, batons, nothing special actually. Houmaru follows Nui and turns on several lights in the room. Nui looks around, she seems to search something. Apparently it's some sort of switch she turns on, and suddenly, a security box opens up that wouldn't have opened with hands alone. Nui smiles as she sees what is in the box. She takes the item out - it appears to be some kind of rifle. It looks rather old but it's aura is very impressive, as Houmaru notices. Nui looks at Houmaru happily.

"A REVOCS standard fiber rifle. We only produced five of them and bunkered them here. Never produced more because it wasn't worth the effort." Houmaru comments.

"Exactly. Good old times, dear Houmaru!" Nui answers and leaves the room happily. The so called REVOCS fiber rifle is a prototype weapon developed by a research & development team in this bunker like base. It was an attempt on getting power in the weapon industry as well to gain power over the military and possible resistance - would the attempt have been succesfull, Nudist Beach certainly would have had a huge problem and they would have had to rely on even older weapons to combat the life fibers. After all, REVOCS knew about Nudist Beach. The standard fiber rifle reminds from the looks of it of a old german weapon used during World War 2 - the so called "Gewehr 43." It was used as inspiration because it was a solid and well looking weapon, and you were able to modify it as well. There is also a REVOCS logo on the stock of the weapon. 

Houmaru continues to prepare everything in the central of the base. The base itself is built out of white sterile walls with REVOCS banners here and there, and a metallic red ground. Nui visits the laboratory, while her friend and colleague Houmaru turns on the cameras. This way, both of them gain access to the entire area and they will find out if an intruder comes closer. The base itself is built in the mountain, and a huge gate grants access to the base itself. Via huge elevators that can carry goods you can enter the huge complex. About 300 people can work here probably. Nui laughs happily. With a curious thought, Houmaru enters the laboratory and sees how Nui walks out of it with a good amount of life fibers in her hands. If you think about it, it's surprising how much life fibers survived the destruction of Shinra Koketsu.

A brief bit of time passes in which Houmaru gets used with the main computer of the central. With this computer you can control the entire base, turn on cameras, turn on the security systems hidden in the walls and what is the most important thing: you get access to the Neo-REVOCS systems and it's possible to see where units are dispatched if they use vehicles. Right now there is nothing interesting however. The data bank of Neo-REVOCS however has a camera feed of Ichiro Harime recorded. Houmaru takes a look at it. This is apparently the person Nui talked about, and next to Ichiro, there is this other man, Masaru Yamamoto. Houmaru falls back onto the chair, bored, waiting for something interesting to happen. She smells a nice scent, which leads her eyebrows to raise up. Then she can suddenly hear someone breathing next to hear. Houmaru turns to her left and sees one of Nui Harimes Doppelgängers grinning at her, however, it wears an eye patch. 

"Hello Houmaru!" the doppelgänger greets. Houmaru jumps up scared and shakes her head, then she slowly calms down. The doppelgänger giggles.

"Hello, clone." Houmaru answers. The doppelgänger giggles and walks through the room. Then, all of a sudden, four more doppelgängers appear through the doors that lead to the stitching halls, and they all greet Houmaru polite one after another.

"... oh no not this again." Houmaru mumbles and runs to the stitching halls. Nui seems to stitch herself a few new clones. About ten more doppelgängers sit here, stitching more. Apparently, there is not much more life fibers left however.

"So what are you planning now?" Houmaru asks curious.

"Me? Pff! I don't have a plan! I'll stitch myself some lovely clones and then we continue to joke around a bit!" Nui grins.

"Alright. And with what exactly? We don't have enough weapons, and I know you won't want to use the ones that are in the arsenal... I wouldn't either by the way, they look ugly." Houmaru comments.

"Needle blades, Houmaru. Needle blades."

"With the amount of life fibers we have you probably will only be able to work on about twelve more." Houmaru answers. Nui rolls her eyes.

"Eh, Houmaru, I know."

"I'm just saying. Why don't you use a needle blade either by the way?" Houmaru asks curious. Nui only smiles. She does not give an answer for some reason.

"... well anyway, I'll see if I can find a few targets to annoy Neo-REVOCS." Houmaru mentions. Nui nods and continues working. Back in the central, Houmaru sees some doppelgängers playing around - they either talk or play little games like Scissors, Stone, Paper... or catching each other.

"Where the hell am I...? ... *sigh* ... I gotta find a way to contact Nudist Beach." Houmaru thinks.

Some time later...

Helicopters are audible, and shots are fired. Satsuki's group reached it's destination at the Biwa lake, and the bridge that leads to the island of Okishima. With their two cars, they move over the bridge which is heavily guarded by Nudist Beach. Speedboats patrol the area, and sniper's look around, watching the area. Even in the water there are little towers guarded by machinegunners. Typical for Nudist Beach, everyone here is nearly completely naked, except for a belt and maybe a ammo vest to cover up the sexual parts partially. It's kind of dangerous if you think about it, especially during winter, but Nudist Beach wouldn't be Nudist Beach if they would start to wear jackets because of cold weather.

Satsuki and the others reach a huge gate with a banner of the Nudist Beach logo. The guards open the door and grant the group an entrance to the fortress like island. No matter where you look at, guards are everywhere, as well as military equipment such as ammo boxes, guns, cars... Nudist Beach certainly made a name in Japan. While they do not have forward operation bases in foreign countries, they do have some agents here and there to keep an eye out for life fiber activities. There is also a little actual beach to relax as Ryuko notices. 

"I mean... why not?" she thinks. Shots are fired once again - apparently recruits are getting used to their weapons. Satsukis group parks their cars, then everyone leaves them. The six of them walk over a huge plaza located in the center of the island, moving to what appears to be the main part of the base - a huge fortress. Transport vehicles drive around, carrying ammo and armor - there is even a DTR in it that has to be built together. Sanageyama also notices a few of those coin bags the guys from Naniwa Kinman carried around.

"As if these guys use coin rifles as well." Sanageyama mentions grinning.

"And everyone still is naked." Nonon mumbles and looks around. Especially interesting is the landing site. There is a huge airship on it. It reminds of a Zeppelin, but far stronger and better protected. 

"Well, after this weird battleship they needed something else that is over the top." Ryuko mentions. 

"Satsuki Kiryuin!" the group hears. Mikisugi appears from the huge gate that leads into the inner part of the fortress. His hair grew a bit, but other than that he looks the same. Well, and he has a few more muscles here and there, if not too many to make a huge difference. They do look nice on him though. Satsuki looks over to Mikisugi with a calm face expression.

"Mikisugi." she says.

"I'd be surprised if you guys would have actually died. I suppose you are here because of that Neo-REVOCS thing, right?" Mikisugi asks, while a little group of soldiers protect him. He looks at Ryuko. She did change a bit.

"Oh my, Ryuko, you did developed. That's a neat new hair style by the way. Reminds me of your old one, but fits since your hair got longer too." Mikisugi compliments and smiles. Ryuko giggles.

"Heh, thanks." she answers.

"Come on, we wanted to talk about the current situation anyway." he suggests.

"Good. Is Iori still here?" Satsuki asks.

"Iori is here, yeah, he's working on some new weapons at the moment."

"I see." Satsuki answers slightly worried. Mikisugi enters the huge gate and stands on an elevator with some goods. The rest of the group follows him. The base is pretty impressive, but less because of the look and more due to the security systems. Inumuta and Gamagoori notice that weapon systems are built into the walls, DTR's are ready to use and there are some spare weapons left. The ammo crates seem to carry desynchronizer ammo. They probably have been upgraded, otherwise they wouldn't store them as they don't have an effect on life fibers. It should be enough to destroy normal armor though. You could probably stop an entire army here, and both Gamagoori and Inumuta wouldn't be surprised if there would be an actual anti air system to defend the base from rocket attacks.

[Soundtrack (right click to open in new tab)](https://youtu.be/Oe6B9pUXsdk)

The elevator slowly arrives in the lower base below the lake, and Ryuko is amazed by how huge the base is. This seems to be the biggest hall of the island - the entire complex is extremly huge, and elevators connect the various halls of the base, but there seem to be other halls too. You'd probably be able to have about 1200 people work here if you work efficient enough. There are Nudist Beach soldiers everywhere, working on weapons, carrying goods or simply talking with each other. Huge gates that are built into the walls lead into the main hall of the base where you can talk with others or meet up for little operations or practicing. The gates also lead to the other rooms of the base - there is a hall for Research & Development in which Iori can be found, there's a canteen with space for 200 people, an arsenal, barracks and many more. 

"Unit 10-A has to meet up for an operation in the command center of hall b in 5 minutes!" a female voice says via speakers. Nonon notices that you could use the main hall for a concert too if the morale seems to decrease.

"So you made it here pretty fast, Satsuki, not bad." Mikisugi mentions.

"Well, we shouldn't waste any time. We have an advantage at the moment, we should use it by dealing damage to slow down the process of Neo-REVOCS gaining power." Satsuki answers. The group arrives at the command center. There is a huge monitor, displaying a map of Japan. There is also a desk in the center of the room, projecting a digital map of Japan as well. If you mark something on the digital map, it will be displayed on the monitor for those who cannot take a look at the desk map. There are also a lot of consoles and computers at the walls of the room - since this is the largest command center, it also serves as the heart of the base. You can also hear the computers working in the background. Houka surely is impressed. Now that everyone entered the room, several high ranked Nudist Beach lieutenants arrive, working on the computers. Tsumugu Kinagase also enters the room, finishing a cigarette. He appears calm but strong.

"Kiryuin. Matoi." he says respectful. 

"I suppose we don't have to greet each other a second time. Let's move on to the important stuff. A few days ago, some kind of unkown flying object landed onto the sunken Honnouji-Academy we all know and love. People disappear and Miss Kiryuin and Matoi suddenly are reported dead. At the same time, some blond guy called Ichiro Harime arrives, takes over REVOCS, renames it into Neo-REVOCS and now we are here. Is that correct?" Mikisugi asks. Tsumugu closes his arms, watching Ryuko carefully. Ryuko nods.

"Good. While you guys were trying to stay alive, Tsumugu and I been planning on what to do. First of all, we need life fibers to produce Anti life fiber ammo. We were able to develope it after the war to defend ourselves against potential second invasions. We do have a few clips of ammo ready but not enough, and if this Harime knows what he is doing, then the desynchronizer ammo won't be enough."

"So what do you suggest?" Satsuki asks.

"We'll wait a few days to see how everything develops. It would be a good start by sending scouts that take a look at the factories to see what is produced there. If the factory isn't well guarded, we could send a strike team to take it down and loot it. I suppose it won't take long until something evil comes out of it again."

"Question: Why don't we just attack Neo-REVOCS now?" Nonon asks.

"Because Harime seems to be extremly dangerous. Tsumugu was there this night. No matter where you look at, there are heavily armored soldiers. Harime is probably invincible just like his... what is he, a sister or something? Anyway, we don't have a weapon to kill him or even incapacitate him. That's why we need the scissor blades."

"The scissor blades are still in the water." Ryuko mentions.

"Then we gotta get them out of there." Sanageyama comments.

"What he says. We are still planning out how to do that. You probably wouldn't die if you dive down and start filling your body with water, but you won't be able to see stuff of course, and the flashlights are not strong enough to enlighten the darkness in the water. But we are still planning everything out. Maybe we also approach it completely different, who knows? We are still considering everything." Mikisugi explains.

"Okay." Ryuko answers.

"So, in conclusion we have to do the following. First: Retrieve the scissor blades or develop something as strong as them. Secondly: Collect life fibers to produce weapons and anti life fiber ammo to combat Neo-REVOCS. Third: Guerilla attacks against Neo-REVOCS. And fourth: Collectin data that could expose Neo-REVOCS. I can't believe the government does not care at all about Neo-REVOCS."

"I wouldn't be surprised if a man like Ichiro Harime has already manipulated them. It wouldn't be the first time seeing life fibers manipulating people after all." Gamagoori mentions.

"Probably." Tsumugu says cold.

"Satsuki, I suggest you keep a low profile for a while - if people find out you are indeed alive and you try to take over REVOCS again, I could imagine panic and confusion in the country and the world and we don't need that right now. We don't know how this Ichiro guy operates, maybe he could use the panic to his advantage as well."

"I see, Mikisugi. I do not like the thought, but it is reasonable." Satsuki answers.

"I don't like it either. Honestly, I prefer a good open battle, but your reputation is pretty bad already and, without any offense, people don't seem to miss you anyway. Cruel enough to just think about it."

"Yes..." Satsuki answers slightly annoyed by that.

Ryuko slowly drifts away from the conversation. Harime. Life Fibers. REVOCS. Scissor blades. These words jump around in her head, burning into it. Ryuko tries to keep them out as they eventually lead to bad head aches. She looks back at Mikisugi, and all of a sudden, Nui Harime stands behind him, with black arms and a kind smile. She looks at Ryuko. Ryuko is paralyzed and snap breathing. The others notice that.

"Everything alright, Ryuko?" Satsuki asks worried. Ryuko looks at Nui. Nui moves her finger from left to right, then puts it onto her mouth, implying that Ryuko shouldn't say a thing. Ryuko hesitates at first.

"Ryuko?" Satsuki asks again. She blinks several times. Nui is gone.

"... yeah, I'm okay." she answers. They continue the conversation.

"Well, that's about it then so far. We'll make sure you guys get some good rooms at the command area." Mikisugi says.

"You guys have bath tubs here too?" Nonon asks grinning. Tsumugu looks at Nonon evil.

"We don't." Tsumugu says.

"Too bad."

The day passes. Ryuko, Satsuki and the elite four all got an own room in a hall with eight rooms - two are still free. The rooms are nearly identical, but they do appear pretty solid and useful. A shelf with belts and ammo vests, a little bath room, and other than that there is a bed, a little fridge for snacks and drinks and a second shelf with weapons and other useful stuff. Since the six people are not directly members of Nudist Beach, they are allowed to wear their usual stuff. Satsuki however is in command just like Mikisugi, as Mikisugi knows about Satsukis good leadership skills and it would be a waste of not using it. Satsuki talks the entire evening with Mikisugi, planning stuff out, explaining the base and so on. Ryuko looks around in the base - something is going on everywhere. Gamagoori does some exercises with Sanageyama, while Nonon sits in the social room at the command area and Houka is at the Research & Development facility, curiously taking a look at everything. Satsuki didn't told Shiro Iori about what happened with Soroi yet, but she will during the week probably. Right now it's important to make a rough plan.

Around 11 PM, Ryuko wishes her sister a good night. She lays down onto her bed and thinks. Even though the room is warm and cozy, Ryuko feels cold, and she feels it's kind of wrong to sleep here. She can sometimes hear footsteps outside - guards that patrol the hall. Satsuki sleeps in the room next to Ryuko so whenever something happens, they can meet each other quickly. Being at Nudist Beach feels wrong because Senketsu and Mako was always with her back then. At least the bed is soft and warm. She slowly starts sleeping, even though it's a weird feeling...

During the night...

[Ichiro Harime's Theme (right click to open in new tab)](https://youtu.be/kwYc9j48xgs)

A huge room is visible. Red life fibers crawl on it's walls, keeping the room solid and intact. They talk to each other in a language a human cannot comprehend. A huge red layer is in the middle of the room, and in front of it are stair like constructs leading up to some sort of throne made out of life fiber, like everything else in this room. A white, humanoid appearing thing sits on it. Then, a sound is audible - something materializes on the red layer. Ichiro slowly appears out of it and bows before the throne.

"High Entity." he says loyal and sinks his head respectfully. The white thing that seems to be called High Entity watches him. It talks to him - apparently with several voices. They all speak together and form one wonderful sounding voice that sounds clear and clean too.

"Harime."

"Kiryuin and Matoi are presumed dead. Neo-REVOCS is mine and the humans are not capable of taking it away." he says calm and satisfied.

"Good."

"However, I fear the exilant seems to have escaped it's prison in the beyond. That was my bad."

"Find Kiryuin and Matoi. Break them apart. We cannot allow them to stop our plans anew. Not after what happened years ago."

"As you wish. What about the exilant?"

"Tear Nui Harime apart. She is not allowed to fight against her own race."

"Yes, High Entity."

"Stand up." the High Entity says. Ichiro stands up, looking proud at it's master. The High Entity splits up into several parts - they are all white. Red fibers move through their bodies, and they start slowly walking around Ichiro.

"We gave you the power of many. Your destiny is to give our species a new home. Be cruel. Show no mercy towards humanity. After killing the primordial life fiber and ending the life of millions of life fibers, they deserve death in the cruelst of ways."

"I have a plan to stop Matoi and to fulfill the wish you gave me. I need your permission for this. You know what I want."

The white entities become one in front of Ichiro, then they watch him.

"We understand." it says. The room lights up slightly yellow and red, and life fibers start singing in the background, slow, quiet, but beautiful and somehow calming. The embodiment of the High Entity takes a few steps back. A humanoid being arises from the red layer between Ichiro and the Entity. It has a yellow-red eye on it's left face part. On the right one, there is just an X. Ichiro smiles curious.

"Use him to your advantage. Destroy him once the time has come. He will wither." the Entity orders it's servant and walks the stairs up back to the throne. The being in front of Ichiro does not have a conciousness. In fact, it's dead. Ichiro touches it's face. It feels soft and warm.

"Senketsu." Ichiro says. 

"Matoi's love for her friends will mark her downfall. And you will help me, Senketsu." he smiles and touches Senketsu's face with both hands. Senketsu dematerializes, forming a little ball of life fibers. Ichiro picks it up. This is Senketsu now. A single white fiber moves in the ball.

"Go, Harime. Fulfill your target. Let us know about your progress. We will watch you proudly."

"Yes, High Entity." he answers. Briefly after, Ichiro dematerializes and becomes one with the red layer again. He appears like one fiber out of many. The Entity sits down onto it's throne, calm and watchful. In front of the throne you can see space - it's a huge wall that is transparent from inside. Outside, there are life fibers.

"Thousands have died due to the deeds of the Kiryuin daughters. Humanities end will be cruel... just like ours was cruel...


	7. Chapter 6: Two Sides Of The Same Coin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Because meeting up with old friends and foes is always exciting. Especially in Ôsaka.

[Soundtrack (right click to open in new tab)](https://youtu.be/8cWDj9fomN4)

Satsuki looks up to the sky. Like the others, she can see thousands of effects and lights in space. Ryuko is fighting against her mother Ragyo. Senketsu Kisaragi versus Shinra Koketsu. Down here, the battle looks impressive. Just like Satsuki, everyone down here is naked, watching daughter and mother fighting. If Ryuko fails, this is the end of the world, and Ragyo will win. A cruel fate for the world. Satsuki's heart beat is high. The tension in the air is thick, and stressful. Dead life fibers lie around at the school yard.

Ryuko sustains more and more hits by Ragyo. The power of Shinra Koketsu is incomprehensible, as she has to experience with her own body. Her wounds are bad, ugly, and the pain is getting worse with each hit. Ragyo laughs, because she feels powerful, invincible, knowing that Ryuko trying to defeat her mother is desperate. Ryuko does not have chance, not even with Senketsu Kisaragi, but she has to endure the pain to become stronger.

"What's happening up there?!" someone asks in the background.

"Matoi needs to win!" another one screams. Satsuki moves forward a few steps. The four deva notice how high her pulse is. Satsuki would never have goosebumps, which is why they can tell how she feels right now. After Ragyo stops attacking Ryuko, it seems as if Ryuko is about to charge an attack by herself. But all of a sudden, everything turns dark. No one is able to move. Time... has stopped. Satsuki however is able to move. White life fibers appear in the area. They break through the walls, the ground, nearly everything, and Satsuki is now able to see a slightly clearer what is happening up in space. Now she can actually see Ryuko and Ragyo - they are as a big as ants, but they are visible. It's indescribable. It's not possible, and yet it somehow works.

Ryuko is unable to move, but she can move her head around. A light appears. Ryuko turns her head with all the energy she has left.

"What are you planning, Ryuko?" Nui asks curious and throws away her Parasol. She walks towards Ryuko and looks into her face.

"You wouldn't hurt mama, would you?" she asks. Ragyo is able to move. She smiles at Ryuko.

"What the..." Ryuko mumbles unsure.

"Senketsu?" she asks.

"I can't do anything!" he answers stressed. Nui walks in front of Ragyo and looks at Ryuko. Her black arms lighten up in red, blue and green colours. First, Nui seems a bit confused, then she seems angry.

"You truly are evil, Ryuko." Nui says annoyed, taking a step at the side, so that Ragyo can go to Ryuko. She touches Ryukos cheek with a hanad.

"Look at you, child. How pathetic." Ragyo says slow, and quiet, and then she activates the satellite that controls the life fibers which covered the earth. Ryuko watches the COVERS slowly moving towards earth.

"No..." she mumbles scared. Nui stands next to Ryuko, holding her arms behind her back.

"Satsuki!" Ryuko says worried. She tries to move and free herself from whatever is holding her back from moving, but it does not work. Nothing works.

Suddenly, the earth starts to lighten up in red colours. Scissor blades appear. Nui grabs them and walks back to Ryuko.

"I can't even smile, that's how evil you are, Ryuko. Shinra Koketsu is my master piece." Nui threatens, holding the blades at Ryukos Torso. Ryuko bites her teeth together and tries to free herself again.

"And no one destroys my masterpiece." she says angry and cuts Ryuko's body in half. Blood flows out of both body parts, but slowly, as they are still in space. Ryuko's eye become larger, the pupils unbelievable tiny, and the pain is one that cannot be described. It embraces her. Briefly after, both parts of Ryuko fall down to earth. Senketsu is crying.

Satsuki watches something falling from the air. The COVERS at the sky slowly move towards her and her friends. They start to light up in red colours, and the noises they produce are awful. And then, Satsuki recognizes it's Ryuko falling from the sky. She can't believe what she see's. Fire appears as Ryuko's body parts enter earths atmosphere. Her younger sister starts to burn painfully. The skin burns, dissolves, becomes ashes, the life fibers that keep her together slowly burn away and everything that stays is the thought of losing. This is the end. She drops a tear.

"Satsu...ki" Ryuko mumbles one last time, looking into space. And then, her face incinerates, the skin burns down, and shortly after, she finally becomes nothing more than dust. Satsuki falls down onto the ground.

"Ryuko..." Satsuki mumbles sad. Everyone around Satsuki cannot move. Time has stopped for them, or better, they stopped while time is running again. The earth shatters, fire catches the ground, and the COVERS slowly heat up. Satsuki notices how Ragyo looks down at her daughter, disappointed, yet with a sublime smile. The fires burn away Satsukis friends, and as it catches up on Satsuki, setting her body on fire, with the heat overcoming her, almost making her explode, Satsuki screams.

"RYUKO!" she screams scared and looks around. She finds herself back in her room in the Nudist Beach headquarter. Satsuki stands up quickly, wearing a blue Pyjama, then walks out of the room. The feets touch the cold ground. Quickly running to the room of Ryuko, she opens it, peaking into it. Ryuko sleeps well and calm right now, and she lies very cuddly and comfortable. Satsuki is relieved and smiles slightly. Then she closes the door carefully and walks back to her room, trying to sleep again. She looks at the ceiling. The bed is comfortable and warm. Did she woke up someone by that scream? It doesn't matter. As long as Ryuko is okay. Time to sleep some more. At the very least, Satsuki is calm now that her nightmare is over, at least for this night.

The next four days pass quiet. Neo-REVOCS activated more factories in Japan and the world, while Nudist Beach gathers more information about their oppoonent. Thanks to Satsuki, Nudist Beach can mark important factories and have a good idea about how rich Neo-REVOCS is and how capable it can be at the moment. Ryuko meanwhile more or less just walks around the entire time, mostly with Satsuki, even though she can't start a lot with the boring paperwork like talking. Attack this, attack there, defend this position, steal something there... she thinks it's boring and it annoys her that she and Satsuki cannot just attack something. But that's not possible without a proper weapon for at least Satsuki. They always work together. In the meantime, Houka tries to look out for security gaps inside the system of Neo-REVOCS to get access to their data and see what they are planning. However, it seems as if the system is well protected, better than he expected, and so it probably will take a while to get access. Iori has heard about the death of his uncle Soroi. The young tailor didn't changed much, he did grew a few centimeter, but that's pretty much it. He comforts himself with the thought that Soroi would have died sooner or later anyway because of his age, but of course he is sad about his death. He isn't the kind of person that would cry though, but it's clear he feels a bit different at the moment...

"Welcome to Neo-REVOCS. Enjoy your stay!" is audible via speakers. It's 5:30 AM right now. The industrial area of Neo-REVOCS changed fairly fast after almost a week - noble white walls with red grounds, flowers everywhere, a nice scent in the air, and dozens of heavily armed guards to make sure no one enters Neo-REVOCS without permission, or leaves it with stolen goods. The young Masaru Yamamoto and a group of Neo-REVOCS workers head out of the main building and enter one of the huge transport areas located around the complex. Besides the main building, there are about twelve more towers which are however smaller than the main building. All of them contain stitching halls that produce new cloths, but it is said that somewhere in the area there are also secret laboratories to experiment with life fibers. And a complex like this probably also has some kind of reactor that produces energy for all the buildings here. It surely is an impressive area every CEO would dream of. Masaru's workers carry a locked up chest. Masaru himself wears a nice red shirt and white trousers, his shoes also seem very expensive and noble. In addition to that, he appears rather serious and grim, although it only works partially, as he still seems very innocent and kind. And the glasses don't help either. Two guards open a transporter. The guards at Neo-REVOCS pretty much look the same, most of them wear batons and bulletproof vests while their clothes are red and white. Some of the guards however carry Submachineguns. Masaru's workers deliver the chest to the transporter, after that, they walk out of the transporter again.

"Make sure the chest arrives in the exhibition building of Ôsaka. Believe me, you don't want to anger our CEO." Masaru threatens and walks back to the main building. A few guards enter the transporter and start driving. At the same time, on various other parts of the huge complex, more and more transporters leave the area. Apparently they all seem to deliver various goods, but what could it be?

[Soundtrack (right click to open in new tab)](https://youtu.be/AF5pHE6J8ps)

Ryuko and Satsuki find themselves back in the arsenal of Nudist Beach at around 1 PM. Weapon lockers are everywhere, ammo crates and even a few DTRs are located. The arsenal is large and huge ladders lead to the upper shelfs which contain more weapons, like Katanas or other melee weapons.

"So how did Iori react?" Ryuko asks her sister.

"Well... I suppose he accepted it. Iori usually keeps a calm attitude even if something goes wrong, but when I told him Soroi died because of this... Harime... I haven't seen him so quiet yet."

"He and his uncle did come along well. What about you?" Ryuko asks worried.

"... it's okay. Soroi did not deserve that. At least not in such a cruel and dishonoring way."

"That's true."

"Well, I suppose we wont be able to visit the cinema the next weeks, hm?" Satsuki asks and smiles briefly, then becomes serious again.

"Ha, yeah... I guess we'll just watch it on DVD. And look it this way, not you had to pay, you paid with the money from REVOCS." Ryuko grins.

"Yes." she answers. Iori appears. He wears a white coat, and he also still has his orange mask.

"Lady Satsuki. Miss Matoi." Iori says calm and asks both of them to follow him. He leads them through the huge arsenal up to a chamber that contains prototype weapons and armors. Ryuko notices experiments about larger and more effective DTRs, or blueprints for the zeppelin like airship that is being constructed and worked on up on the island. Just like the rest of the base, everything here is pretty much made out of steel corridors and grounds. Iori opens a glass closet, and a metallic shelf moves out slowly. Two pieces of clothing are in it.

"Mikisugi asked me to work on a few clothes for you, I of course followed his orders. Lady Satsuki, your cloths, or better, combat armor, is finished, while your's, Miss Matoi, is still in development. However, you can already take a look at how it probably will look like once it's done." Iori says calm. He grabs Satsukis armor and shows her the look of it.

"This is a light armor made out of flexible alloys." Iori starts to explain. The armor looks very noble, but simple. It has white colors, and the material that covers the alloy feels like silk, and the alloys can sustain a good amount of damage too. It seems like a few life fibers are fused into the armor as well - other than that there's only the alloy and solid cloth. If Satsuki wears it, her shoulders and the upper body area would be well protected. The area around the belly however is free and not protected, to ensure that Satsuki can move fast and stay flexible, as while the alloys are able to stretch a bit, it would definitely make everything more difficult if the belly is covered as well. There are a few blue and yellow stripes as well. In general, the armor looks really well done and compact, as one could expect from a experienced tailor like Iori. Satsuki takes it and feels it. It feels really good.

The so called "Wrath-Regalia" protects the upper and lower body of the wearer fairly well against melee weapons and especially environmental hazards like fire and acid. Small caliber bullets won't penetrate the armor, however, I assume you won't get shot anyway thanks to the great flexibility. The area around the belly is the only weak spot. Of course it is risky, but it's necessary to ensure maximal precision and flexibility. But since you've always been very agil and calm, I assume this won't be much of a problem for you, Lady Satsuki. I also have a second prototype which I am working on at the moment. I'm trying to develop a version that is compatible with your suit. That way you do not have to constantly change clothes and can adapt quick according to the current situation. And of course I'm looking for some improvements regarding the armor itself." Iori explains. Satsuki is impressed. Ryuko however is bored.

"Good work, Iori." Satsuki says satisfied. Iori nods and puts the Wrath-Regalia away. As he is about to talk about Ryuko's armor, the speakers of the base turn on.

"Ryuko Matoi and Satsuki Kiryuin are ordered to the command center of Hall-A." is audible.

"I'm afraid your armor has to wait, Miss Matoi." Iori notices.

"That's cool. Call me Ryuko by the way. Miss Matoi almost sounds like I'm some sort of noble women." Ryuko grins.

"As you wish, Ryuko." Iori answers. Ryuko and Satsuki quickly go to the command center where Houka sits at the huge monitor. Several red dots are visible on the monitor, and most of them move to Ôsaka and the area around it. Houka looks fascinated at them. Next to Houka, Tsumugu and Mikisugi watch the monitor, although Tsumugu closed his arms, thinking about something. Ryuko and Satsuki arrive at the command center.

"We've been called?" Satsuki says calm but resolute.

"Yeah. Your buddy Houka wants to talk." Mikisugi answers. Houka zooms closer onto the monitor.

"Houka?"

"Satsuki, I've already told Mikisugi, but you should take a look at this. This morning we got information about Neo-REVOCS sending several convoys through and to Ôsaka. Most of them will pass Ôsaka, I assume, but I'm certain that there will be a few that will stay here for a while." Houka explains. Tsumugu looks at both sisters.

"Well what are we waiting for then? Let's kick some asses!" Ryuko says excited.

"Matoi, let me tell you two things. First: Attacking them without a plan will alarm these clowns and ruin everything. And secondly: we should make sure that we can destroy as much convoys as possible. That's why you are here. We will plan a few ambushes. Both of you will participate." Tsumugu explains. Ryuko nods slightly. After that, the planning starts...

At the same time, Hoomaru sits in the central room of the old REVOCS base, and she can see various convoys moving too, as she still has access to the system of Neo-REVOCS. Hoomaru is more or less alone in the base, there are a few clones left that hang around or play a bit, but other than that, not much is going on. Hoomaru feels uncomfortable but at least the clones are polite towards her. More polite than Nui ever was at the very least. Via the security cameras she can see Nui and a few of her clones walking back into the base. Her clones carry bags full of plundered goods.

"Would you look at that... Harime dispatched several convoys." Hoomaru mumbles quietly. Briefly after, Nui enters the room with five of her clones, and all of them seem to be relaxed and happy.

"This was super awesome, mistress!" a clone says happily.

"The way you shot this soldier was soooooooo funny!" another clone says grinning. Nui goes to Hoomaru.

"Heyyyyyy Hoomaru! What are you doing? Not much obviously." Nui grins and looks at the monitor Hoomaru was looking at.

"Do you want to hunt down more Neo-REVOCS convoys?"

"Of course. It's fun to hunt down humans and life fibers!" she answers.

"Good, then listen up. Ôsaka isn't far from here and there is a huge convoy moving to the city, seems like it's well guarded, maybe you want to catch it?" Hoomaru asks.

"Wow, Hoomaru, you are really smart today, and that has to mean something! But sure!" Nui grins. Hoomaru shakes her head annoyed. Nui giggles as a reaction as she thinks Hoomaru is just funny to talk to.

"Thanks for the compliment, Harime." Hoomaru says annoyed.

"Nwaa, don't act like that now, I think a few jokes between two friends can light up the mood really well, don't you think?" Nui answers smiling.

"Look, Harime. I don't like you. But I do work with you together because this Ichiro clown probably killed Satsuki, and I don't like that. Would you PLEASE stop harassing me the entire time?" Hoomaru answers annoyed. It's simply annoying to always hear Nui mocking about her. After five years without REVOCS, Hoomaru definitely changed and her confidence became stronger. She's done with being insulted the entire time. Nui smiles confused.

"Ooooh, someone is insulted!"

"I'm not insulted. Just annoyed. You want to get that convoy now or do you prefer to annoy your "friend?" Hoomaru asks.

"Haha, I'm on my way already, thanks dear little Hoomaru!" Nui answers. Her clones store away the bags with loot - life fibers, probably produced by Ichiro himself, cloths and other materials and here and there a function weapon of Neo-REVOCS. Nui takes some of the life fibers and stores them inside her fingers, so that she can quickly get them. They serve as ammo for her rifle. Her fiber rifle has changed - pink color with a few hearts here and there on the barrel and a huge blade below the muzzle so that she can perform melee attacks. Nui and her clones start moving out of the base. Eight clones wear needle blades, four of them the other fiber rifles that were in the base...

Two hours pass by. Nudist Beach's plan is as followed: several squads will be placed in and around Ôsaka to perform ambushes as soon as they spot a convoy. Since the convoys are rather slow and have an equal speed, ambushes can be timed rather easily. While the four deva have to fight in Nudist Beach clothing since Iori wasn't able to produce uniforms for them, Satsuki can use her Wrath-Regalia. Ryuko however is forced to wear Nudist Beach clothes - a belt and a little ammo vest to hide the sexual parts. She does not like the idea at all which is pretty obvious as she looks annoyed and ashamed the entire time. On the other hand she probably just has to get used to it again. Just like Satsuki, Ryuko has a Katana for melee combat which was extra crafted for her and her sister. It is infused with a few life fibers that have been stolen by Neo-REVOCS which means they have a good quality as well. Therefore, the Katanas are more powerful than the normal ones, even though they are not as strong as Bakuzan or the scissor blades. They however should be enough to damage life fibers badly, although they won't be able to kill them. Both sisters sit in the empty room of a civilian transporter. Takaradas scouts watch the area and the convoys, that's how Nudist Beach knows the situation exactly. Satsuki waits calmly, while Ryuko is slightly excited. She looks at her Katana.

"Kinda weird to have a Katana with me." Ryuko mentions.

"You think so?"

"Mhm. Yeah, I kinda liked the old scissor blades more. Well... anyway..."

"I see."

"Did you knew there's a festival in Nagoya next week? With huge markets and attractions and stuff?"

"Oh really? I did not."

"Yep. You think we both could take a day off to take a look around there? I know, I know, this probably sounds childish and there's probably more important stuff, but... you know, maybe we should try to still have some fun even though there's a maniac leading your company... uhm..."

"I understand, Ryuko. I don't know. I'd like to visit it, that's for sure. You remember the shooting range from last year where you hit all the signs and won? It was a huge teddy bear." Satsuki grins. Ryuko laughs.

"Oh yeah, I still remember it. Felt super warm and cuddly somehow, even though it wasn't really mine."

"What did you do with it?"

"Sold it for a bunch of Yen. Little kid was happy after their parents bought it from me." Ryuko smiles. Satsuki nods.

"That's nice." she answers. Someone knocks at the door. The transporter has stopped apparently.

"Ready?" Satsuki asks. Ryuko nods. Both of them exit the transporter and walk to the door, which opens shortly after. They are at a warehouse near a huge plaza of Ôsaka. A Nudist Beach soldier talks to them.

"Lady Satsuki, Matoi. We received a message a few minutes ago. The convoy you are about to attack apparently has stopped here and delivered it's goods into a warehouse a street away. It probably is well guarded, you might want to sneak in first and see what is in there. There's no need to alarm the guards if there is nothing of interest." the soldier says. Both sisters nod.

"Sure thing." Ryuko answers. The soldier points with his finger into the direction where the warehouse is supposed to be. It isn't far away indeed. Ryuko and Satsuki quickly move to the little alleys and walk around the huge plaza where they could get spotted easily. The alleys of Ôsaka kind of remind Satsuki of the ones from Tokyo, but unlike Tokyo, no one walks around here, simply because there aren't as many people living here. The alleys are still small and dirty though. Since the buildings are huge, they give a good cover and protect from the sun which can make spotting both Ryuko and Satsuki easier for Neo-REVOCS units. It's cold here and there is ruined clothes everywhere, as well as a few rats and a few empty cans of food. They arrive at a seemingly abandoned building. It's windows are broken, however, there is a ladder they could use to get up to the building. Ryuko helps Satsuki jump up the ladder. Satsuki can jump high, but sometimes it's easier to have a helping hand. Satsuki climbs up and helps Ryuko get up here as well. After that, both sisters walk through the building - it's completely empty and indeed abandoned. The walls are black and some are moldy too. However, it gives a good oversight of the front view of the warehouse they want to investigate. They take a closer look.

There are a few vehicles of Neo-REVOCS in red and white colors. The thing that strikes the most are the soldiers they can see - the so called Ashigaru units of Neo-REVOCS. They present the main part of Neo-REVOCS private army. Ashigaru units are easy to recruit and have basic knowledge about combat and fighting with melee and range weapons. Their armor isn't the best and only their torso is protected, but it's enough to combat most threads fairly well. Their design reminds a bit of the actual Ashigaru units from the 16th century back in the Sengoku era. They were the main part of the army of the Shogun back then.

"Light infantry. They seem to use Katanas and Wakizashis. Some of them wear submachineguns." Ryuko mentions. Satsuki nods.

"Mhm. And they seem like they don't want to go so quickly. We should take a look and see if we can get into the building quietly. Maybe we can knock out a few of them." Satsuki considers.

"Sure." Ryuko answers.

[Soundtrack (right click to open in new tab)](https://youtu.be/aW0lmtqSKmI)

Upon that, Ryuko and Satsuki leave the building and walk through a group of civilians on the main street, near the warehouse, so that they won't be spotted by the Ashigaru. Satsuki looks for a way to get behind the building, and she quickly finds one that has less guards than the front. It's not as well guarded as it probably could or even should be, especially since Neo-REVOCS probably knows that Nudist Beach is their opponent. However, they also probably don't know that their base is in Ôsaka. In any case, drawing attention would be bad, since the warehouse is located in one of the bigger and richer parts of Ôsaka, which is kind of weird. Warehouses usually are in industrial areas. Something has to be in the warehouse that is more worth than just simple material. Arriving at the back yard of the warehouse, Ryuko and Satsuki move from wall to wall until they are about 12 meters away from the back entrance. They hide behind a few crates. Ryuko peeks out of her cover and see's two Ashigaru-gunners, armed with Submachineguns, patrolling the area. Just as Satsuki wants to draw her Katana, Ryuko holds her off as the gunners move along due to an explosion and a few shots nearby.

"Wait. I thought the next group is in the financial district?" Ryuko asks confused and quiet.

"I have no idea. But it doesn't matter. We should move." Satsuki suggests and moves forward. She holds her Katana ready for an attack by holding her hand tight onto the grip of the weapon. That way she can perform a quick slash attack. The area is rather quiet and empty, it's the back yard of a warehouse after all. Crates, barrels, a little hut for guards to take a break, and fences. Civilians watch Ryuko and Satsuki but move along, although some do take a closer look at Ryuko because her... outfit is very... unusual. Especially during winter. Satsuki carefully opens the door and takes a look, while Ryuko watches their back to see if guards come along. Two normal guards sit at a desk in the room she's looking into. No Ashigaru whatsoever, simply two normal men, playing a game of arm wrestling. They haven't noticed Satsuki. She shakes her head and opens the door further, but slow and quiet. Carefully, she and Ryuko sneak to the men. Ryuko's big sister points her left hand to the right guard, making clear for Ryuko she should attack the right one.

Both guards seem to have a lot of fun.

"Did you do exercises or what!?" the right guard asks confused and keeps pressing.

"Hah, as if I need exercises for a dumbass like you!" the left guard grins.

"Dumbass? Who do you call a dumbass!?" the right guard asks. 

"Yo, what's up, guys?" Ryuko asks smiling. The guards turn around to Ryuko and Satsuki with a surprised face. Quickly, Ryuko punches the guards face, knocking him unconscious. Satsuki kicks into the face of the left guard, knocking this one unconscious as well.

"We should have waited a minute, I wanted to see who would win." Ryuko grins.

"Watching two fools performing such an childish activity is pathetic." Satsuki answers and moves into the next room.

"... childish activity, I'm Satsuki, I'm serious as fuck, look at me." Ryuko mumbles jokingly and chuckles. Not much is going on in this room, and so, Ryuko follows Satsuki. Satsuki stands in the door frame, and she seems impressed. 

"What's up, Satsuki?" Ryuko asks.

"Is that truly a warehouse?" she asks confused and walks into the room. Ryuko follows her and raises her eyebrows.

If this is a warehouse, it would be a very weird one. This building appears to be some kind of exhibition building, dedicated to various works of the REVOCS corporation. It's quiet here, and the room has a nice temperature. The rooms itself are also very clean for some reason, and there seems to be no guard around.

"That's strange." Ryuko says.

"Mhm." Satsuki hums and looks around. Since the "warehouse" has several floors, there's probably more upstairs. Satsuki curiously walks to a few vitrines and takes a look - inside them are a few well tailored cloths, scars and even a nice looking school uniform. Just as you could expect from Neo-REVOCS corporate design and architecture, the rooms here have white walls and red grounds. This all looks very noble and expensive, there's no doubt about that, and polished as well. Ryuko pinches her eyes and is suspicious. After that, she takes a look at the various rooms. There is one vitrine with something that looks almost like a COVERS. Seemingly, it was however just the basic version that you could wear normally, and so, Ryuko guesses it was some kind of blueprint to orientate for the finished product later on. She also notices a overly huge wedding dress in which two or three people could fit in.

"Who would wear something like this?" Ryuko wonders and walks around. Satsuki investigates the rooms for useful items and stuff like crates with life fibers or weapons, although chances are low they could find weapons in an exhibition building.

"I'll take a look upstairs, Satsuki." Ryuko mentions.

"Alright." Satsuki answers and nods. Upon that, Ryuko arrives in a huge hall. There is a huge entrance door, and on the left and right side of the door are windows. A few Ashigaru-swordsmen watch the entrance, but they of course won't see Ryuko as long as she doesn't make noises. Quickly, Ryuko decides to walk up the stairs. More shots are fired outside, but the Ashigaru-swordsmen seem to be calm.

"They do make have a good time out there, that's for sure." Ryuko thinks and arrives in the first floor. The rooms here look very polished. The few windows here let the few sun rays in, as it's cloudy outside. There's no snowfall though. Curiously, Ryuko looks around. However, there's only more boring Neo-REVOCS stuff. More cloths, scarfs, in general every kind of cloths you could possibly imagine. There is also a portrait of Ragyo Kiryuin. On that, her mother looks very impressive and noble, with rainbow colours behind her head, and dozens of REVOCS-workers below her, looking at the viewer proudly. Ryuko sighs looking at her mother. She gave Ragyo a chance for redemption after the destruction of Shinra Koketsu but she did not took that chance, but decided to take her life. Her daughter is not sad or anything, just... very disappointed. That happens every time she see's a picture of her. It's disappointment about being thrown away like trash, especially since she never had the chance of finding out what it's like to be loved by two caring parents. The only one that has a slight idea is probably Satsuki, but then again, Satsuki hates Ragyo. However, it surely also shows that Ryuko became more mature over time for not hating her mother but actually giving her a chance even though she could hate her, and that hate would be justified because of Ragyo's actions in the past. Suddenly, Ryuko hears steps in the second floor, and there is something else that also makes noises for some reason. Carefully, Ryuko walks up, holding the grip of her Katana tight for a slash attack.

Arriving in the second floor, there are a few empty rooms. Some windows are here, and a few crates with materials, but it does not seem to be life fibers and therefore it's nothing useful. Apart from that, the room itself is badly lighted, which is strange to Ryuko. However, there is a huge door which she opens. Inside, she finds only one interesting item: a large chest in the center of the room that is on a little podium, and it seems to move around for some reason. It also makes noises which makes it even weirder to Ryuko.

"The fuck...?" she mumbles confused and walks towards the chest. Other than that, there really are just a few windows and crates and another huge door behind the podium, about 10 meters away. It's closed however. Ryuko grabs the chest with her hands tightly. It feels strange and it gives her a weird but kind of comfortable feeling - one she hasn't experienced in a long time.

"... what...?" she mumbles and opens the chest carefully and slow. Whatever is inside that chest, it stopped rumbling around. It seems like there is some kind of piece of clothing. As the first light flows into the chest, it gets even more obvious that there is something to wear inside. Suddenly, the chest bangs open, and said cloths jump out!

"AHHHH! THANK YOU, IT WAS SO DARK INSIDE THERE, I WANTED TO GET OUT OF THERE THE ENTIRE TIME BUT I COULDN'T BECAUSE..." the piece screams and jumps onto Ryuko, which leads Ryuko to fall down. It's sleeves hold Ryuko's arms tight.

"HEY, HEY! WHAT THE HELL ARE..." Ryuko screams back, until she notices what sits on her, jumping around hysterically.

"...you..." she finishes. 

It seems to be a suit. She looks into it's eye. No one says a thing. They just look at each other for a moment, and they both have looks full of disbelief and surprisement. Then, Ryuko's eyes start glowing up a bit.

"Senketsu..." she mumbles in disbelief.

"... Ryuko..." Senketsu mumbles back.

[Soundtrack (right click to open in new tab)](https://youtu.be/O4adEyK67dI)

They continue to look into each others eyes. 

And one more moment.

And another one. And then, Ryuko starts laughing happily.

"SENKETSU!" she laughs happily.

"RYUKO!" Senketsu screams back. Ryuko hugs Senketsu as tight as she can. A few tears drop out of her eyes full of happiness. Ryuko simply laughs happily, and Senketsu is also giggling, enjoying the hug.

"How the hell is this possible, how... like, how..." Ryuko mumbles in disbelief but with a huge smile.

"Ryuko, I don't have any idea, but... I... oh god, Ryuko, I..."

"It's okay, Senketsu! Whatever happened to you, no matter what happened, you're here, and we will find out how you came back, alright?!"

"Okay, okay, I just..."

"I know, Senketsu! I'm happy too! I just..." and then Ryuko loses it and just cries out of happiness. Her laugh was one of the most beautiful Senketsu has ever heard, and probably one of the most beautiful in her entire life. It was genuine and wonderful. Ryuko never laughed so happily in years. Right now, Ryuko doesn't care at all about how Senketsu is back. All she knows is that this is the real Senketsu. He just looks different now. He sounds like Senketsu. He feels like Senketsu. He even remembers Ryuko. And the grip of his sleeves surely feels the same like back in the days when he was a uniform. This truly is Senketsu.

"Oh my, Ryuko, you do look different. You really grew up, didn't you? But uh... you should wear something." Senketsu says. If he would have a face, he would grin now. At least Ryuko is able to hear out if he smiles or grins. She just does for some reason. Ryuko chuckles.

"Oh, that? Well, you're the one who burned up, you idiot!" Ryuko giggles and hugs Senketsu once more. Senketsu hugs her back.

"Wait until Satsuki see's you, oh boy, she's gonna make eyes, no doubt about that!" Ryuko grins. Senketsu laughs.

"Well, I hope so, I want to see her again too." her friend answers and holds her one more moment. Senketsu feels wonderful, warm and cuddly. Ryuko nestles her face one more time onto Senketsu left shoulder where his missing eye, marked by an X, is located. Senketsu's main parts, the eye and the shoulders are similar to his old version, however, instead of a uniform, he appears to be a black suit now. His eye is like a circle now, and not like a square anymore. There is also a gauntlet for the left hand, with red and white colours, and black pants with a belt.

"Note: This Kamui has to be delivered to Neo-REVOCS immediately." Ryuko reads loud.

"Yeah right, fuck that." Ryuko grins and takes off her belt and ammo vest, making her naked. She takes the trousers in the chest, however they seem to not be part of Senketsu directly but just a little addition. However, the trousers fit to Senketsu's apparel. The trousers are black with red pockets on the right and left side around the hips.

"You need someone that will wear you." Ryuko grins and picks up Senketsu. She quickly puts him on, as well as the gauntlet and the trousers. There is a red needle on the gauntlet, which is also very similar to the old Senketsu. Senketsu fits perfectly and comfortable. For one moment, she just stops thinking about the world and how it looks like out there. No Neo-REVOCS. No Nudist Beach. No bad things. Just her and her friend. That's all she thinks about right now. And it makes her happy. Senketsu is the only important thing right now. And that is okay. She takes a look at herself.

"Wow... who would have thought I'd look like one of those business people? Satsuki's gonna love it probably. Senketsu, man, I thought you'd be a rebel like me!" Ryuko laughs.

"I am! But I guess I gotta develop somehow, right?" he answers and chuckles.

"Haha... man... if I would have known that you were here, Senketsu, I..."

"I know, Ryuko. I probably would have jumped out of that dark chest and plagued everyone in the building if I would have known you'd be around here." Senketsu answers relieved. Ryuko quickly takes a look outside the building. Ashigaru-swordsmen and gunners walk around, and apparently there is a little fire a few hundred meters away. From here, you can see one of the most memorable buildings of Ôsaka - the Arboretum of Ôsaka. Normally, an Arboretum is a huge garden with exotic flowers that takes up a huge landscape, however, this Arboretum is actually inside a building, and there are glass walls everywhere. Everyone can look into it and outside. It looks beautiful from here. The construction of the Arboretum was financed by Takarada. Who else, of course.

"We gotta get to Satsuki, Senketsu. She's gonna be so surprised when she see's you..."

"Wait until you see me, Ryuko love." Ryuko suddenly hears. Ryuko turns around. The door that was closed is open, and a light turns on. Her eyes advance. She was happy. Until now. Now she's getting angry.

[Soundtrack (right click to open in new tab)](https://youtu.be/krdyopF-yqA)

That's Nui Harime. She giggles and puts away her Parasol. Red fibers move through her scar. Suddenly, she pulls out her fiber rifle and starts playing around with it, until she holds it tight and in a defensive form.

"You..."

"Surprised to see you around here, sweet heart." Nui grins. Ryuko knows this is the true Nui. She draws her Katana quickly and starts running towards Nui.

"GET OVER HERE YOU BITCH!" Ryuko screams. Nui laughs and walks back. With the attached blade she destroys the wall behind her and jumps out. Concrete and stones fall apart, and Nui lands onto a roof. She wants to run away apparently.

"HARIME!" Ryuko screams and follows her quickly. The Ashigaru-swordsmen notice the noises and look up. They can see both Nui and Ryuko running on the roof.

"That's Harime and Matoi! GET THEM!" one of the Ashigaru says. A group of Ashigaru-swordsmen and gunners start following them on the street, while Ryuko and Nui chase each other on the rooftops of Ôsaka. Satsuki also noticed the noises and runs up the stairs to see what it was. Nui climbs up a wall and jumps towards another wall, breaking it open with her rifle blade. Nui lands in a huge library where dozens of people sit around right now, reading books. She jumps onto a desk and uses it as a head start for another jump, reaching a railing above her.

"Hey, what the hell is wrong with you?!" a civilian screams angry. Ryuko arrives and dodges around the people who are genuinely confused about what is happening here, then, Ryuko jumps onto the desk and up to the railing as well.

"Sorry!" Ryuko calls to the civilian who tries to throw a book onto her, but he misses. Nui waits at a door that leads out to the terrace of the library, playing around with her rifle. Ryuko see's Nui and runs towards her, with Nui showing out her tongue briefly, leaning her right arm onto the rifle which serves as a support so that she doesn't fall.

"Come on, slowpoke!" Nui provokes and kicks open the door, taking the rifle with her and jumping onto another roof. Nui slides down the roof. Bricks fall down and dust whirls up, and with the speed she gained, she jumps onto the next roof. Ryuko follows her. Small concrete walls are next to her, it seems like this is a room in construction.

"Try to stay calm, Ryuko, your blood boils!" Senketsu says worried. Ryuko doesn't care. Suddenly, Nui jumps into the second floor of the Arboretum of Ôsaka. Ashigaru-swordsmen climb up ladders and stairs to reach at least Ryuko. Ryuko jumps into the second floor as well and looks around. Exotic flowers, beautiful gardens, little trees and bushes, and there is even a little fountain. The civilians are already panicking and run out of the room, especially after they see how angry Ryuko is. She holds her Katana ready but in a defensive form.

"Good! Now let's see where she is!" Senketsu says as he notices Ryuko trying to stay calm.

"Yeah, Senketsu. Hey, Nui!" Ryuko screams annoyed. She hasn't left the building apparently, as Ryuko can hear her giggling. This makes Ryuko even more angry.

"COME OUT AND FIGHT ALREADY!" Ryuko screams.

"Gladly!" Nui says and jumps out of her cover, she was behind a tree. She attacks Ryuko with a quick slash attack. Ryuko is able to parry the attack in one last moment. Sparks fly, and a powerful noise is audible as both blades clash together. Ryuko slashes back with her Katana, Nui blocks however and attacks again, swinging from the left side. The attack is strong enough to destroy Ryukos posture, and for a brief moment, she struggles. Nui seems to attack less precise now and much more chaotic and destructive. She's probably angry too, even if she doesn't show it. Nui charges another attack, but Ryuko jumps back to gain strength for the Katana again. And another attack, and another one, but Ryuko dodges them all and hits Nui at her left arm. Blood flows out of her arm.

"HOW THE FUCK ARE YOU STILL ALIVE, YOU LITERALLY CHOPPED YOUR HEAD OFF!" Ryuko screams angry.

"I could ask you the same question, little hero!" Nui provokes annoyed and dodges an attack of Ryuko. Ryuko hits the window wall next to them, leading to the glasses to break apart. Having a chance of a hit, Nui uses the buttstock of her rifle to hit Ryuko's face, which causes her to stumble back and into the little fountain. She is completely soaked, and her hair feels sticky. Nui attacks a second time, but now with the blade. Ryuko dodges, Nui hits the fountain. The fountain breaks apart. The blonde psychopath starts laughing, enjoying the view of the soaked Ryuko.

"I've had it with you now..." Ryuko mumbles and holds up her left hand, forming it to a fist, then moving the needle to the end and pulling it out. Nui takes a few steps back and watches Ryuko with an excited face expression. Ryuko moans due to the pain that flows through her body. Senketsu transforms into something else - life fibers cover up Ryuko's entire body, little needles are inserted into the skin, draining blood and her hair becomes longer, with red streaks everywhere. Her power grows immensely, just like five years ago. She forms fists and tenses her muscles to fight against the pain, and she bites her teeth together, until the transformation is finally done. The red light caused through the transformation vanquishes, and Ryuko stands in front of Nui again.

"Life fibers... synchronized... KAMUI: SENKETSU!" she screams full of power and strength and looks at Nui. Still excited, Nui looks at Senketsu. Senketsu became a huge dress like armor painted in black, with red stripes on the arms and torso, and the lower part of the armor looks like thorns. This truly is an exciting view, and it shows that this version of Senketsu seemingly is more rebellic and chaotic than the old one. Nui's smile gets bigger.

"Senketsu Azami..." she mumbles excited and holds her rifle ready. She takes out a few red bullets and holds up her rifle. Red smoke arises from the side of the weapon, and a loading chamber appears. Quickly but precisely, Nui loads her weapon, and closes the loading chamber again. Red smoke leaves the muzzle of the weapon.

"Shinra Koketsu was my masterpiece. I'm gonna make sure you'll pay for it." Nui says furious and unlocks the weapon, noticable by a satisfying "Kling."

Satsuki arrives at the rooftop of the exhibition building and watches Ryuko and Nui fighting at the window walls of the Arboretum of Ôsaka.

"I can't believe this." Satsuki says annoyed and pulls out her Katana. Then, she jumps from the roof of the building and runs on the roofs of Ôsaka to the Arboretum, until she suddenly hears gunshots from the Ashigaru-gunners that are below her. 

"Kiryuin!" one of them screams. Satsuki jumps onto the ground to get some cover while crouching forward, while the bullets fly over her head. The little, maybe 50 centimeter high wall breaks apart thanks to the bullets. Stone's break out and smoke rises up. Quickly, Satsuki moves to the wall in front of her which leads to the library where her sister jumped into, climbing into it. She finds herself back in it. Satsuki stands up and continues running until a few Ashigaru-swordsmen spot her. They draw their Katanas and start chasing her, but there is no time to fight them, she needs to help her sister now. The civilian from before continued reading at the desk, until Satsuki jumps onto it, destroying it since it got damaged by the jumps of the other two. Annoyed, the civilian throws the book away and leaves the room but gets pushed down by the Ashigaru-swordsmen. Satsuki exits the building. She isn't far away from the Arboretum anymore, where she can clearly see Ryuko fighting against Nui.

"Ryuko!" Satsuki calls and runs to the next roof, until more shots are fired, but they sounded different. More powerful. Satsuki takes cover and peeks out, seeing several Doppelgängers of Nui Harime, armed with REVOCS standard fiber rifles. A Doppelgänger fires at Satsuki, she quickly gets into cover. Satsuki thinks about what she should do now. She hears the clones laughing, until the Ashigaru start shooting, but apparently not at Satsuki, but at the clones. Satsuki moves to the next cover and notices how the clones have a firefight with the Ashigaru units which confuse her.

"She's fighting against her own!?" Satsuki wonders. She briefly thinks and tries to get into the next cover, but a few Ashigaru spotted her and start shooting.

"She's fighting against her own..." Satsuki realizes.

"Interesting..." she mumbles and figures out a way to get to Ryuko.

"Ryuko, you need to calm down, you need to get used to wearing me, your blood boils!" Senketsu says worried. Ryuko does not care however and attacks Nui more and more, but she dodges every attack effortlessly. Then, Ryuko attacks once more by trying an slash attack, moving the Katana over her head for maximum strength. Nui however counters the attack and pushes Ryuko away with the rifle blade.

"How'd you manage to destroy my present for my dearest Lady Ragyo?!" Nui asks angry and attacks. Ryuko dodges.

"Wasn't too hard actually, make sure to stitch something that doesn't break apart!" Ryuko provokes. Annoyed by that sentence, Nui attacks again, hitting Ryuko with the blade on the left shoulder. Blood spreads out of Ryukos shoulder, she bites her teeth together and takes a few steps back.

"Funny today, aren't we?" Nui asks and attacks once more, but Ryuko blocks and takes a few more steps back until she ends up at a small tree which gives her cover from the left side. 

"She's way more concentrated, Ryuko! Take a little breath, quickly, we got some cover right now!"

"Listen to your Kamui! He's got a cute voice!" Nui giggles.

"You can hear him!?"

"She can hear me!?" Senketsu says confused. Nui laughs and attacks, Ryuko however counters the attack by pushing the rifle blade into the tree, making Nui defenseless. Ryuko attacks Nui and chops off her left arm, causing Nui to scream in pain.

"AH! YOU LITTLE...!" she screams angry and pulls out the weapon out of the tree again. Nui bites her teeth together. She's certainly angry, no doubt about that. Well, you can't blame her for that. Her severed arm dissolves on the ground, and a huge puddle of blood is left. Her arm slowly regenerates again.

"Come on, Harime!" Ryuko provokes Nui. Nui holds her rifle a tad bit closer to her body, keeping a defensive position now. She still appears calmer than Ryuko even though she is definitely angry.

"I'm not weak." Nui mumbles quietly. Concentrated, Ryuko looks at Nui and vice versa. Ryuko takes a few more steps back and arrives at a little bench. Senketsu looks at the bench just like Ryuko.

"Now, Ryuko!" Senketsu says. Ryuko jumps onto the bench, and the red stripes on Senketsu light up a bit. Her power grows, but she is not concentrated enough and jumps too high, giving Nui the opportunity to react. Nui aims into the air as Ryuko jumps from the bench to attack Nui with one devastating attack. Then, Nui shoots at Ryuko, hitting her with the bullet. Ryuko flings back, through the fountain, destroying it completely, landing in a wall, which partially breaks apart to the sheer strength of the bullet. Little concrete parts fall onto her.

"Argh, fuck!" Ryuko mumbles painful and tries to stand up, but Nui comes closer and shoots her into the left shoulder of Senketsu. Senketsu can regenerate slowly, but Ryuko for some reason cannot. A huge hole is in her shoulder, blood spreads, and she moans painful. Then, another bullet hits her leg. Smoke arises with every shot of Nui's fiber rifle. Nui comes even closer until she is almost in front of her, in a rather bad mood, aiming onto Ryuko's torso.

"I'm not weak..." Nui mumbles annoyed, shooting at Ryuko again. Blood spreads once more, and Senketsu's torso turns red thanks to the blood.

"They told me I'm as worthless as the humans." Nui says. Ryuko looks up at Nui. Nui shoots Ryuko once more. Ryuko moans even more painful and inhales hardly, trying to stand up.

"But I'm not." Nui mumbles and turns her rifle around, attacking Ryuko with the buttstock. She hits Ryuko in the face. Everything fades to black...

...

...

...

Masaru waits in the presidential office, watching Ichiro. It looks different now - everything is white here, except of the furniture, which is mostly red. Ichiro sits on the ground, calm and concentrated. To make sure he does not disturb him, Masaru doesn't move and waits on a chair. He is curious about what Ichiro is doing. Suddenly, Ichiro looks up and opens his eyes.

"Matoi is in the old museum of Ôsaka." Ichiro realizes.

"So your plan seems to work?"

"Perfectly."

"Should I dispatch Samurai units or Couturiers?"

"No. Send a unit of Ashigaru." Ichiro says and stands up, walking to his desk.

"If I may ask... why only one unit?" Masaru asks confused. Ichiro turns his head to Masaru and smiles slightly.

"The most important thing in life is having fun. Always. One unit is enough." Ichiro grins.

...

...

...

Someone snores. Ryuko wakes up and looks around. She's hanging around - literally, because shortly after she notices that everything is upside down and that she hangs onto the ceiling. She looks up and see's Senketsu who almost hangs with his eye into her face. His eye is huge. Parts of the lower armor are also hanging down. It looks hilarious, and Satsuki, who is in the same room like Ryuko, would laugh if it wouldn't be so serious. Instead, she looks at the ground, calm and thoughtful. Ryuko notices her feet and hands are tied with life fibers, and Satsuki's hands are tied behind the chair she sits on. They can see a Doppelgänger of Nui sleeping on a desk.

"Satsuki!" Ryuko whispers to her sister. Satsuki looks to Ryuko.

"Ah. You're awake." Satsuki answers.

"Got any idea where we are?"

"An old museum, I suppose."

"I can't believe this bitch is... grrr..."

"I know, Ryuko. And apparently, Senketsu is here too. That is... surprising." Satsuki says, although she is probably rather negatively surprised, but Ryuko didn't really noticed that.

"So how did you end up here?" Ryuko asks.

"Harime's clones attacked me. They won a little skirmish against those Ashigaru-gunners and continued to shoot down my cover. What was surprising because I wouldn't expect Harime to fight against her own men, if they are her men at all. That led me onto an idea and that's why I simply surrendered."

"FOR REAL?"

"Don't worry, Ryuko. I have a plan."

"You better have a damn good one then." Ryuko answers. The clone suddenly moves and falls from the desk, landing on it's face. Nui's clone wakes up and looks at Ryuko and Satsuki, smiling and blushing a little bit.

"Oooooh, you two are up and don't seem to happy! I'm super sorry for that!" the clone grins. Neither Ryuko nor Satsuki answer.

"I'm going to let my mistress know you are awake! Please don't go away, otherwise Miss Harime is getting very angry." the clone continues to say.

"Oh no, how terrible!" Ryuko answers annoyed. The clone leaves the room.

"Fuck, we could have beaten Nui!" Ryuko says.

"Ryuko, she can't kill the two of us. Her weapon can only knock us out as it seems." Senketsu thinks.

"But she can kill Satsuki."

"I know, Ryuko. We'll find a way out of here. You see the ceiling? It looks instable, maybe we could fall down if you move around back and forth?" Senketsu suggests. Ryuko hesitates at first.

"Well I guess it's worth a try but it's gonna make some serious noises."

"Sure, but I'm getting dizzy." Senketsu chuckles.

"Yeah fair enough." Ryuko answers and starts swinging around. The ceiling truly seems to be instable and has a few cracks already, but that's because the museum really is old already. It's here for a few hundred years already and could use a renovation. That's obvious if you take a look around - the interior of the room what appears to be some kind of office is old. Satsuki eavesdrop at the wall behind her. Seems like the clone is talking to Nui right now. Then, steps are audible.

"Our friend is coming." Satsuki says calm.

"Fuck, alright!" Ryuko mumbles and swings more and more. Something's cracking, apparently the ceiling is about to give up.

"It works!" Senketsu says. The door opens and Nui appears with two of her clones, both of them armed with REVOCS standard fiber rifles. At the same moment, a small part of the ceiling breaks apart and Ryuko falls down to the ground, exactly in front of Nui's shoes. Nui looks at Ryuko down, and Ryuko looks up to her.

[Soundtrack (right click to open in new tab)](https://youtu.be/z5EGGRIu7cM)

"Well that's a view I like to see." Nui mentions and smiles.

"... shut up." Ryuko says and stands up. Satsuki looks at both of them. Ryuko looks directly into Nui's face and vice versa. She smiles, but it's more of an evil smile, less happy than five years ago, before she lost her arms to Ryuko. Other than that, she truly looks like the old one, except for the left eye being regenerated with a scar and without the long pigtails.

"Haven't seen you around in a long time. I missed you sooooo much!"

"I bet you did."

"It was really boring, you know? But now I am back and I'm having more fun than ever!"

"Great for you. How about we both take our weapons and take a nice walk outside, then you could share your fun with me?" Ryuko suggests annoyed. Nui does not answer the question, instead, she plays with Ryuko's red streak in front of her face.

"You really look cute, you know?" 

"Don't... touch me." Ryuko threatens and pushes Nui's hand away. Nui holds her arms behind her back. She's not worried at all as both of her clones watch Ryuko. If Ryuko does something stupid, they can simply shoot her and knock her unconscious.

"Sooo... where are those cool scissor blades your dear dead daddy made for you? Did you destroy Shinra Koketsu with them?"

"Maybe. They're gone."

"How unfortunate. That means you cannot kill me! And I can't kill you either! What should we do now?" Nui asks smiling.

"I don't know. Maybe we should search them?" Ryuko asks sarcastic.

"I'd love to!" Nui answers. Ryuko's face expressions slowly changes from angry into serious slowly.

"For real though... how the fuck are you alive? I saw how you decapitated yourself! How is that possible?" Ryuko asks confused and annoyed. Nui sighs and walks to Satsuki, playing with her hair too.

"Mhm, I got revived, you know? Felt pretty naked but now it's not too bad being alive! Although... I wasn't really completely dead, haha." she chuckles. Satsuki's hair feels great and soft.

"Wow, Satsuki. Your hair really feels nice."

"So now there are two Harimes. As if one wouldn't have been enough already." Ryuko says angry and looks at her Katana and then to the clones. The clones smile at her, one of them even waves it's hands towards Ryuko. The other one shows her tongue.

"Yup, yup! Ichiro is a funny little guy, super handsome, has a good fashion style but also pretty unfriendly, I don't like him, so I'll just kill him." Nui answers happily. Satsuki looks up interested.

"You want to kill him?" Satsuki asks confused. Ryuko raises her eyebrows and leans onto a wall. Her Katana lies there.

"Of course! Do you have any idea how annoying this guy is? He really is a party killer if you know what I mean!" Nui smiles.

"You... want to kill him because he's actually not funny? Didn't you just say he is? Wait, what are... ah you know, fuck it." Ryuko says.

"Sorry, my dears. I suppose the words I use are either too smart or too confusing! So, to make it short: I want to kill him because he wasn't very kind to me."

"The fuck is wrong with you, dude?" Ryuko asks.

"I'm A-okay! Really! I had a great childhood full of fun, I was raised perfectly fine by our beloved mama Ragyo and I had the best friends I could have ever imagined: me, myself and I! And now I got YOU and SATSUKI here!" Nui answers satisfied.

"Care to listen to what I want to say, Nui?" Satsuki asks. Nui rolls her eyes and walks in front of Satsuki so that they can look into each others face. Then, Nui stoops forward, holding one leg up so that Ryuko cannot look under her dress. Not that Ryuko would do that anyway.

"We both agree on Ichiro being a pretty annoying person, yes?" Satsuki asks. Nui nods.

"We also agree that he should deserve a few punches in the face?" Satsuki continues. Nui nods again and smiles more.

"Good." Satsuki answers. Ryuko notices what Satsuki seems to have in mind.

"Oh no, Satsuki, we won't, we're not going to work with this psychopath!"

"You see, Nui. Ryuko and I, we have a huge problem with you, I don't think I have to explain why." Satsuki says. Nui chuckles slightly and nods.

"Your Daddy complexes are still a huge thing, hmmm? Well I'm not too resentful but destroying Shinra Koketsu wasn't the most fun move you could have perform."

"Then I suppose we are even? You took our dad, we took your masterpiece?" Satsuki asks. Nui laughs and rolls her eyes.

"Ohhh, Satsuki."

"Before you laugh, hear me out. You want to kill Ichiro, I want to kill Ichiro and Ryuko wants to kill Ichiro. You and Ryuko want to fight but you cannot do that as long as Neo-REVOCS is actively trying to take our "fun" away. That's why I'm asking you if you would agree to a truce as long as our friend Ichiro is alive. After that, we can gladly have a battle, but for now I think it's more important to work together. I doubt that you can win against him alone. And you seem really eager to defeat him. You could also simply just go ahead and kill me but if you do that you'll be hunted down not just by Neo-REVOCS, but also by Ryuko and Nudist Beach." Satsuki proposes. 

"ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS!? Hey, Nui! Nui! Listen to me! Get your weapon, I'll take my Katana, we can fight each other, you can hit me first if you want but I won't work with you together, I..." Ryuko gripes.

"Hahaha! This sounds stupid, Satsuki. But you know, it's that kind of stupidity that I hate and love about humans. Every single one of you never knows when to stop. You know what? Oui, why not? Sometimes you need to take a little risk to have a lot of fun. And you know I love fun." Nui grins. Ryuko's eyes become larger, as well as Senketsu's.

"Really?" Ryuko mumbles aggressive. A clone enters the room.

"Miss Harime! Your funny little human friend Hoomaru just said on that Radio thingy that a few bad guys are coming." the clone explains.

"Hoomaru!?" Satsuki asks.

"Oh yes, that's right. Hoomaru is with me." Nui giggles. Satsuki thinks. Did Hoomaru betray her? Or is Hoomaru trying something out regarding Nui? Maybe she really is only with Nui around because that way she could find out more about her and make sure that she doesn't do anything stupid. She wouldn't betray Satsuki, on the other hand it's not 100% sure if Hoomarus ideals she got teached by Ragyo have vanished.

"Satsuki, seriously, you gotta reconsider this. Is that really your idea? How..." and then they can hear a loud shot.

"What was that?" Ryuko asks.

[Soundtrack (right click to open in new tab)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8o0Sp2NhlTo&feature=emb_title)

The wall next to Ryuko explodes. Wood and concrete fly around, smoke arises, stones break. The debris hits everything but Ryuko, Satsuki and Nui and the clones. Satsuki peeks outside. There are a few dozens of Ashigaru-swordsmen and gunners outside, and there seems to be an armored vehicle with a gun on top of it. Nui sighs. 

"The party poopers are here." Nui mentions. A clone throws a fiber rifle towards her which she catches. Nui snips with her right hand, which causes the life fibers that tie Ryuko, Senketsu and Satsuki together to dissolve.

"Then take your weapons and let us have some fun." Nui suggests and moves into cover. Shots are fired, hundreds of bullets fly into the building. Satsuki takes cover, next to Ryuko. They both peek out.

"Where the fuck do these guys have all those weapons and why does no one give a shit about it?!" Ryuko asks confused.

"So that's where my money goes." Satsuki realizes and gives Ryuko a Katana. Ashigaru-swordsmen storm their position. Nui begins to shoot around. She deals a headshot on one of the Ashigaru-swordsmen. The power of the bullet decapitates the head. Ryuko and Satsuki realize however that these Ashigaru units seem to be life fibers combined with robotic parts.

"They're life fibers!?" Ryuko wonders.

"WOULD YOU KINDLY STEP OUT AND GREET THEM?" Nui asks loud, but kind. Satsuki nods towards Nui and her clones, then jumps out into the open, charging at the Ashigaru units. Ryuko joins her. Bullets fly around, but they can dodge them, and Satsuki even parries a few of them. They arrive at a group of Ashigaru-swordsmen and attack them, using slash attacks, although it's clear that out of the two sisters, Ryuko is more chaotic and tends to use rather slow but powerful attacks while Satsuki takes more time to attack to deal damage more precisely and use less slashes in general. Both sisters fight through the group of Ashigaru, but there are more around them, about 60 to be exact. Body parts fly through the air as Ryuko and Satsuki fight through the soldiers who seem to struggle against them. They are probably more dangerous on range than in melee combat. Civilians run away in panic, more Ashigaru-swordsmen attack, but Ryuko and Satsuki can deal with them as well. Meanwhile, Nui shoots the Ashigaru-gunners on the rooftops which try to shoot her seemingly new allies. One after another, the partially alien and robotic enemies fall from the roofs, breaking apart into many parts, but after the fifth shot, Nui has to reload, which always annoys her a bit. Ryuko gets hit onto her back but Senketsu can deflect the attack as the energy gets pushed back, thus leading to the Ashigaru that hit Ryuko flinging away, flying into two of his friends. The three of them land into a second vehicle of Neo-REVOCS which appears to be some kind of transporter for soldiers. Satsuki notices the three soldiers that landed in the car, and so she attacks two more Ashigaru-swordsmen and pushes them at the car with her weapon. Then, Satsuki looks to Nui.

"Shoot the gas tank, Harime!" Satsuki calls towards Nui. 

"I'd love to." Nui whispers to herself smiling and aims at the gas tank of the car, then shooting it. The bullet flies straight into it, penetrates the tank hull and causes it to explode. Briefly after, the transporter itself explodes and the Ashigaru fly up into the air. Satsuki smiles towards Nui, which Nui reacts with a wink. Ryuko reaches the armored vehicle with the gun on it and opens the hatch on the vehicle roof. Inside, there is a guy who grins towards her and waves her head. Ryuko grins back and pulls him out of the car, throwing him out of the combat zone as he does not have a weapon, so there is no need to beat him up. Ryuko climbs into the car and steps on the pedal. The car starts driving forward, running over a few Ashigaru swordsmen. Quickly climbing out of the vehicle, she jumps out and performs a over head slash attack, hitting several Ashigaru swordsmen that were trying to attack Satsuki now. In the background, the car crashes against the transporter that exploded. They really do consist of life fibers and robotic parts which is interesting for the sisters. Why would Ichiro do that? Probably to ensure absolute loyality towards Ichiro which wouldn't work as good with humans. Not many Ashigaru swordsmen are left, about six or seven to be exact. Nui jumps out of the building with her clones and starts shooting at the Ashigaru units that are left.

Suddenly, a third party opens fire. Coins fly through the air, Ryuko and Satsuki take cover while one of Nui's clones get hit and falls apart. These are apparently Takaradas students. They shoot the spare Ashigaru units down with their coin rifles - the fire rate is immensily high and it looks hilarious how the Ashigaru gets shot down one by one. They start to malfunction, and one of them even explodes. And as if that wouldn't be enough, Takarada himself appears and shoots with a machine gun like coin weapon. They continue to shoot the Ashigaru and even after they are all beaten, they just shoot some more because its so much fun. Coins are flying around literally everywhere. As soon as Takarada and his men lack of coin ammo, Takarada screams.

"NO ONE STARTS A FIREFIGHT IN MY TOWN, IS THAT CLEAR ENOUGH!?" Takarada screams happily.

[Soundtrack (right click to open in new tab)](https://youtu.be/HmKn3jyTxdM)

Everything is quiet. Coins fall onto the ground, the wind is audible, some smoke rises up and Satsuki can see Takarada dance around like a little child. Ryuko looks at Takarada as well. Civilians come back and start collecting the coins for themselves. Nui and her other clones look at the people and Takarada. They look at each other confused, and Nui smiles confused as well. Takarada walks towards Nui. Ryuko and Satsuki see him walking towards her, while one of the clones grabs the fiber rifle of the clone that died because of the students.

"You can be glad you're allied with Matoi and Kiryuin, otherwise we would have shot you down with the power of cash as well! No one's shootin around in my city. Whoever does it will pay!" Takarada threatens Nui. Nui smiles at him.

"What kind of clown are you and why haven't I talked with you before, you silly." Nui grins.

"Did you just call me a clown? I'm Kaneo Takarada, Boss of the Naniwa-Kinman high school and local commander in chief of Ôsaka! And you seriously call me a clown?!"

"Well you look like one, so, yeah." Nui answers sassy.

"Aha! And who are you that you can call me a clown!?"

"I'm just me."

"Oh really!?"

"Nui Harime, Grand Couturier of REVOCS. Haha, sorry my dear, but shooting around with coins is one of the most stupid things I have ever seen. You humans really do have a twisted sense of humor!" Nui grins. Takaradas eyes become large.

"WHAT!?"

"Takarada!" Satsuki calls. He turns to Satsuki.

"Go now."

"That's my town, no one commands... me..." he mumbles as he looks into Satsuki's eyes that don't appear exactly friendly.

"It might be a good idea to deal with my own business right now, Satsuki, you are totally right!" Takarada grins and runs away. Nui smiles at Ryuko and Satsuki and plays around with her rifle a bit while her clones just imitate her every move.

"This was lots of fun! We should do that more often!" Nui smiles.

"No doubt about that, Harime. You did well." Satsuki answers.

"Oh a human gives me a compliment, how kind of you, dear Satsuki."

"Satsuki, we gotta talk." Ryuko says to Satsuki annoyed.

"Oh come on, Ryuko, I haven't done anything to you in this life. At least not yet! You happen to have a second daddy, or maybe a mother? We could visit them if you want!" Nui grins. Ryuko ignores her stupid sentences

"Stop it, both of you. We can talk now, Ryuko. And you, Harime: I want to talk with Hoomaru later on. We'll meet up in our base later on to talk about how we will continue now. Don't think now that we trust you, we do not. I just want to make sure your clones and my men don't clash each other in combat while we hunt down this maniac Ichiro is." Satsuki explains. Nui nods and continues to play around with her rifle, performing little tricks with it. She seems to enjoy using it. Satsuki and Ryuko take a few steps back and talk to each other.

"So that's your plan?!" Ryuko asks annoyed.

"Yes, Ryuko. What else should I do. She wouldn't have let us go, and sadly, Harime isn't stupid." 

"I swear I'll kill her for what she did."

"Do it, but do it once Ichiro is dead. This man is dangerous, far more dangerous than everyone else we met so far. If he can crush your arm without a weapon that severes life fibers, if he can take over entire companies in less than 48 hours and seemingly even control certain government organs to allow him to actually use a private army in the middle of a city, I don't even want to imagine what else he can do. I don't have any idea how he did all of this, still." Satsuki explains. Ryuko looks at Satsuki in disbelief for a moment.

"Great, Satsuki. Really."

"Please trust me, Ryuko. I know what I'm doing. I don't like Nui either, I hate her as much as you do. She killed father, and that is something we cannot forgive. However, she seems to hate this Ichiro and she did pay for her sins by dying."

"Well she didn't pay enough yet then!"

"Trust me. That's all I want, sis." Satsuki pleads. Ryuko sighs annoyed and hesitates a few seconds.

"... if she does one stupid move or hurts you..."

"... then you will kill her. That's okay. Now come, Ryuko. We should let Mikisugi and the others know about our new... "friend." I suggest Iori takes a look at Senketsu as well. I might sound evil now but I don't trust a Kamui where all I know is that it has died once. I just want to make sure it's alright." Satsuki mentions. Ryuko and Senketsu look at each other. She still wears the Senketsu Azami form.

"We can trust Senketsu."

"I know. But I don't know where he's from."

"Who cares? All that matters is that he's back."

"I don't know, Ryuko. I might be too protective but... please let Iori take a look at him."

"It's okay, Ryuko. Honestly, I'm glad too if I know where I come from and what is going on. Maybe Satsuki's friend can find something out." Senketsu asks calm. Ryuko is unsure whether she should allow it, then again, Senketsu has his own mind, and so she nods.

"Alright. If you want it, then it's okay for me too, I suppose." Ryuko smiles.

Eventually, Ryuko and Satsuki meet up with Nui and talk to her. They agree to visit the Nudist Beach headquarter together, however only if Nui hands out her rifle and leaves her clones inactive during her visit to make sure she doesn't do anything stupid. Since their base isn't hidden anyway, it doesn't really matter if Nui finds out about it or not. Satsuki seems to have a plan about Nui and she is sure about it, which is what counts the most. Ryuko knows that Satsuki doesn't do stupid mistakes normally, and if she does, she is well capable of learning. Still, having Nui as an ally is a thought Ryuko dislikes not just a bit.

On a more positive note, with Senketsu, she got a friend back she would have never thought to see again. He was always a nice memory. A friend that always watched her in the sun whenever she looked it up. The three of them will see how this alliance will develop, now that they are seemingly allied, at least as long as Ichiro is alive. What still bothers both sisters is that Nui apparently really has a problem with the life fibers, which is why Satsuki wants to talk with Hoomaru as soon as she can. After all it's a huge deal to turn against the ones you gave your life for and even sacrificed it. Ryuko however doesn't care about Nui right now, or about a thread in the world in general. All she wants to do once they are back is spending some time with Senketsu.

And that is something that gives her a warm smile for the time being.


	8. A Stitch, Connecting Two Species

Later that day...

Masaru enters the presidential office of Ragyo Kiryuin, or better, Ichiro Harime. Ichiro sits in front of his desk. He seems to work on a few new clothes, but they don't seem to be anything too special, probably just something to kill some time.

"Master Ichiro. The Ashigaru-units were..."

"...eliminated by the three of them, I know, I saw it." Ichiro answers and looks up to Masaru, with a brief smile.

"I see. I suppose I'll leave you alone then." Masaru suggests.

"No. Stay here." he orders. Masaru looks up and to Ichiro.

"Those Ashigaru and Samurai, as you call them, seem to be useful even though they are primitive. You should work on them. They are loyal and obey every word... exactly how it's supposed to be. However, I would prefer a few more humans instead of those... robotic toys."

"Thank you. I'll see what I can do."

"Good. However, there is a second thing we need to talk about, my dear little friend. I need you COVERS clowns for that."

"Whatever you wish. I just want this world to be a better place." Masaru says innocent, not knowing what Ichiro actually has planned. Ichiro chuckles slightly and smiles.

"... heh, I'm certain of that. How about you tell me where the headquarters are located?"

"For what, if I may ask?"

"We need to show the humans that Neo-REVOCS is different. Better than our predecessor. Your friends sadly have to... disappear. It's for a better future for humanity, so to speak."

"You want to kill them!?" Masaru asks shocked. Ichiro laughs.

"No, no, no, no... I don't want to kill them. Don't worry about it. Let me handle everything. Your people will leave the situation in a better shape than ever before." he smiles mischievous.

"I see. You... you know that I trust you, right?" Masaru asks worried.

"Of course I do. I want a list of every major base. And one more thing: prepare the Auditorium for a speech, we will have a lot of visitors tomorrow." he orders.

"I will." Masaru answers and leaves the room. The door closes. Then, Ichiro sits down in the middle of the room, closing his eyes slowly.

"Let's see..." Ichiro mumbles curious.

"Let me ask you one question, Satsuki

"Let me ask you one question, Satsuki. Just one." Tsumugu says annoyed. Satsuki stands in the great main hall of Nudist Beach, while Ryuko watches Nui, holding her rifle. Nui seems to be tame for the moment, the only thing she does is playing around with a clone and petting it's hair a bit.

"What did we do to you to actually consider... inviting this freak... to our base?" Tsumugu asks evil. Satsuki stays ice cold.

"I don't know either, dude! I didn't liked the idea either!" Ryuko says. Nui chuckles.

"Shut it." she reacts to Nui.

"Nope." Nui grins back and continues chuckling. Ryuko shakes her head.

"I know it's a controversial idea to say the last. I did this to ensure her support against our enemy for the time being. You cannot deny that she is a capable combatant and a master when it comes to tailoring clothes. Lastly, Mikisugi and you said we need life fibers to craft better weapons and armor."

"But then we could have just raided a convoy! Or a factory!"

"You mean the twelve convoys we attacked this morning that hadn't had anything, not even one crate of life fibers?" Satsuki counters sarcastic.

"It doesn't change the fact we could have attacked a factory!"

"And thus probably losing more than winning. Harime can produce life fibers by default. Slow, but it works. Correct, Harime?" Satsuki asks and raises an eyebrow, turning her head to the former Grand Couturier. Nui nods smiling.

"Oui, I could, but why should I? It's more fun to see you goofin around while I keep my sweet fibers!"

"Don't forget, Harime. You can't win alone." Satsuki answers cold. Nui rolls her eyes.

"Eh, I doubt that but if you ask kindly, I might share a few." she smiles and looks at Tsumugu. Tsumugu looks back with an evil face expression.

"Heeeeyy, big guy, what's your name and why do you look like someone punched your nose, you got into a fight and lost?" Nui laughs. Tsumugu starts cooking up annoyed, and his face turns red.

"Careful, Life Fiber." he threatens.

"Oooooh, careful, Life fiber, I'm one of the tough boys!" Nui continues to laugh. Tsumugu walks towards Nui and wants to push her away, but Satsuki intervenes. However, Nui's clone falls from her arm, lands on the ground and grows up, running away with a curious face.

"Ah, god damn it." Ryuko mumbles.

"Ryuko? Tsumugu, Mikisugi and I have to talk about the entire situation. Please bring Nui away, maybe take her to a cell or somewhere else where it is safe enough. She has to sleep somewhere." Satsuki suggests and suddenly starts walking with Tsumugu.

"For real now?!" Ryuko asks annoyed. Nui turns to Ryuko happily, while Nui's clone still walks around happily.

"Alrigh, mon cher! What fun things are we going to do today?! Should we tease a few boys? You like boys? I like boys and girls, you know?" Nui grins. Ryuko closes her eyes briefly, inhales and exhales through the nose and then comes up with an idea.

"I got a great idea, Nui. Come on, I'll show you what I mean!" Ryuko says, pretending to smile, then taking Nui's hand which she accepts as Ryuko is partially life fiber. If it would be a human, she probably would have cut their arm off now.

"Tell your clone to follow you." Ryuko orders.

"Can't do that! But don't worry, she'll come back." Nui answers smiling.

"Eh, fuck it." Ryuko mentions and continues walking. It's pretty obvious Ryuko is annoyed, towards Satsuki and Nui, but it doesn't help, and sadly, Satsuki is somewhere right when she says that they could use every help. And since Nui seems to know Ichiro, it could be useful indeed to have her around, even though they need to find a way to keep her chaotic nature low... or at least low enough so that she doesn't start killing someone. Anyway, Ryuko pretends to be excited about having Nui around her. That's pretty funny to Nui as she knows that Ryuko just pretends it. Senketsu also pretends to be happy.

"So, Nui, old pal!" Senketsu says. Ryuko notices how ashamed Senketsu is of saying that.

"We are pals?" Nui asks grinning.

"We are now! What happened to you hair?" he asks curious.

"Oh you know, the usual snip snip, haha!" Nui answers...

[Soundtrack (right click to open in new tab)](https://youtu.be/Mf_Q3vpb91o)

Meanwhile, Satsuki, Tsumugu and Mikisugi stand in the command center. Houka listens to what the three are talking about. Nonon enters the room and joins Houka.

"Alright, Satsuki... tell me exactly why you think it was a good idea to get Nui Harime over here, please. She is the exact opposite of us, she is what we are trying to destroy. We might be a perverted organization but we have a reason to be like this - as long as monsters like her exist, we need to exist as well. So, what made you come to the conclusion to actually invite a fashion freak like her?" Mikisugi asks confused. Satsuki sips from her tea. The tea tastes bad, however, Satsuki keeps a calm attitude. Nonon and Houka are interested to hear Satsuki's reaction.

"I already briefly told it Tsumugu, but to be clear enough, let me explain it with every detail. Now this is what made me think: we are dealing with someone who seemingly is more powerful than my "mother" Ragyo could have ever been. While she "only" led a fashion, she had to keep her head down for the time before the COVERS appeared. This man, Ichiro Harime, however, who seemingly has to do something with Nui Harime, does not have to play by the rules of our world, or at the very least, of Japan. A man like him with a power like that should have gotten into immense trouble by now, but he did not, and I don't like that. He gained a private army in less than a week. Something Ragyo didn't had at first.

Secondly: We do not have any life fibers around here. Even if our Arsenal is well filled, we need to be careful and effective since Neo-REVOCS has more units than we do. Harime can produce life fibers and knows best where the most valuable Neo-REVOCS factories are located, simply because she visited all of them, unlike me. She knows everything about this corporation - and she knows more about our opponent than we do, which can be very valuable as it can give us an idea about how to fight him. We don't know yet why she fights against him though.

And lastly: even if Harime is a despicable person, she is one of the best fighters we could possibly get. And we can always use good fighters." Satsuki explains calm. It's quiet for a brief moment, but then, Mikisugi gives an answer.

"All of this might be right, Satsuki, however, she still is the complete opposite of us. If one of us gets shot, she won't help. If the moral of our troops are high, she'll destroy that moral. And if someone needs help for general stuff, let's say transporting goods, she'll just stand around. She is life fibers. And we've sworn to ban life fibers from this world. That doesn't count just for her, but also, as evil as it might sound like, for Senketsu as well. He is just as much life fiber as she is, even if he isn't hostile but a friend. His and Harime's comeback can't be a coincidence."

"I agree that Senketsu's revival is something we need to investigate as from what we know, he burned up completely and died. I think this is a trap. I might be wrong, but I need to tell my sister she has to let Iori investigate Senketsu. I don't want her to be harmed. Regarding Harime: All of this is true. That's why we only have a truce. Once Ichiro is eliminated, we will deal with her." Satsuki explains. Tsumugu shakes his head.

"I'll be totally honest. We should kill Harime. We can interrupt her regeneration with the Anti-Life fiber bullets we have at the moment. We lock her away, retrieve the scissor blades and Ryuko can kill her and avenge Isshin after several years. It's obvious that Ryuko is annoyed by Harime and that she wants to kill her for what she did. You talk about Harime being an ally, but did you already thought about the idea that Harime might just play around and is in truth allied with that Ichiro guy? She could spy on us." Tsumugu answers.

"Which is why we take precautions to make sure Harime will be incapacitated and killed if she makes a mistake. Whenever Ryuko and I are about to start a operation, we'll take her with us. We can handle her. That's why I suggest that only the three of us travel to Tokyo to retrieve the scissor blades. That way, Harime stays away from the base and once we got the weapons, we can eliminate her if she makes something stupid." Satsuki explains. Annoyed, Nonon stands up and sides with Satsuki, while Houka constantly looks to Mikisugi and Satsuki.

"Alright, seriously. Satsuki and I are childhood friends, I know her for a long time. Satsuki is always a calm but resolute person and knows exactly where to draw the line. You can trust Satsuki. Did she ever disappointed one of you? I can't remember to be honest. Houka, Ira and the green monkey would say the same. I'm not saying that just as a friend, but also as an ally for you. Trust Satsuki, she ain't stupid." Nonon supports her best friend and looks into Mikisugis eyes with a burning eagerness. Both Mikisugi and Tsumugu start thinking. They are not completely sure what to think about this. They quietly talk with each other while Nonon closes her eyes. Every lieutenant in the room watches them talk. Satsuki waits. Then, Mikisugi turns around.

"We trust you Satsuki, you know that. Getting Nui over here is a dangerous idea which Tsumugu and I dislike. However, if you manage to develop a reasonable plan on how to make sure she'll 100% won't harm anyone, she can stay for the time being as long as it's necessary." Mikisugi proposes. Satsuki nods grateful.

"Thanks." she answers cool.

"Now, where is Harime anyway? Is she with Ryuko?" Mikisugi asks.

[Soundtrack (right click to open in new tab)](https://youtu.be/oulTf-_EssI)

"So, you guys got a stitching hall over here? Isn't it cold for you during the winter, I mean, you're walking around naked

"So, you guys got a stitching hall over here? Isn't it cold for you during the winter, I mean, you're walking around naked. You can get a cold pretty quick if you walk around outside while being naked! That's why I love making clothes, y'know?" Nui grins. Ryuko tries to ignore what she says.

"Look, Nui." Ryuko says.

Nui looks at Ryuko, smiling and see's how she opens a door. She got the key for the room at the entrance room of the command center. Nui watches curiously Ryuko open the door and peeks into the room. Looks quite okay to her which surprises her, even if it's nothing compared to her beautiful room in REVOCS.

"Oooooohhh... that looks very old fashioned!" Nui says happily and looks around in the room.

"Yeah, I know, it's great, right?" Ryuko grins. Senketsu chuckles quiet. Nui nods with a fat smile in her face and touches the Duvet of her bed. Feels comfortable. Pretty okay to her.

"That bed feels soft!" she laughs and looks at Ryuko with an innocent face.

"Mhm, yup! Wanna play a game, Harime?" Ryuko asks curious.

"I love games! What kind of game?!" she asks happily and walks towards Ryuko. Nui seems to know though what Ryuko is planning, she sadly isn't stupid. But she goes with it.

"Ah, you know, I was thinking of a game but you'll probably win anyway and you know, that would be kinda boring, so uh..." Ryuko explains all of a sudden. Truth is, Ryuko wants to lock up Nui in here. Nui pouts.

"Nwaaa, that's too bad! I could give you a little advantage if you want! You're gonna lose anyway but I want you to think you have a chance against me!" Nui chuckles.

"No way, really, you'd do that for me? Wow, I didn't thought you'd be so kind. I guess I never really gave you a proper chance, seems like you are a cool friend actually!" Ryuko grins. Nui nods.

"Yes, I am! In fact, you can't find anyone cooler than me!" she answers. Ryuko, Senketsu and Nui start laughing, and Nui sits on her bed, looking at Ryuko.

"Now, Ryuko!" Senketsu says. Suddenly, Ryuko walks a few steps back and closes the door while Nui just smiles. They quickly close the door and lock it up. Since the door is made out of steel and alloys, Nui won't get through it, not even by force, as while her arms can be transformed into blades, they cannot pierce steel. Ryuko grins and nods satisfied.

"Well that was easy." Senketsu mentions. They can hear Nui standing up.

"Ryuko, that's so mean of you! Ryuko! I'm going to starve now! How am I supposed to stay alive if I can't eat something because you locked the door?!" Nui asks chuckling. Ryuko and Senketsu don't say anything, but they do chuckle.

"Ryuuuuko!" Nui sings and knocks against the door.

"Nwaaa, you are mean! I like mean! Let me out!" Nui asks kindly. Ryuko sneaks away, visiting the command center where Satsuki drinks her bad tea. She sits at a huge table made out of metal which is next to the planning table. She looks at Ryuko and has to smile slightly as she see's Ryukos big smile.

"Ey what's up, Satsuki." Ryuko grins.

"You seem to be amused, what happened?" Satsuki asks curious, sipping her tea. After that, she's grossed out. That tea really is horrible but there seems to be nothing better here.

"God, that's awful." she mumbles.

"I've taken care of Nui."

"What did you do?" Satsuki asks.

"Locked her up in a room in our dorms. Man, if you would have heard her." Ryuko laughs. Satsuki chuckles.

"Not bad." she answers. Ryuko sits down at the table.

"It's been some time, Senketsu..." Satsuki says.

"I agree. You've cut your hair, I see. Looking good." Senketsu answers. Ryuko plays around with a pen while both of them are talking.

"Not entirely voluntarily to be honest, but I kept it nonetheless. I think it's a good symbol for my new "Me." Honnouji is gone, well, more or less, there were storms every once in a while the last years and a few parts of it became visible again... but anyway, how are you?"

"I'm doing good. What do you think of me? Ryuko said you like suits and all kinds of noble clothes. Kinda preferred my old uniform but I would lie if I say I wouldn't enjoy this new version of myself, hehe."

"I like it. I would have preferred white colors, but you do fit Ryuko." she answers and smiles. Ryuko blushes a bit.

"Not at all!"

"He does."

"Nope!"

"Yes he does!"

"In your dreams!" Ryuko laughs. Senketsu and Satsuki chuckle.

"I missed both of you." Senketsu mentions. Ryuko smiles and fills a little cup of tea, then she sips from it. She's grossed out as well, Satsuki grins mischievous.

"The fuck, who made this tea!?" Ryuko asks curious.

"Tsumugu!" Mikisugi says in the background...

[Soundtrack (right click to open in new tab)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9aRl5YDGLo&feature=emb_title)

Gamagoori and Sanageyama in the meantime are exercising in the gym. Around them, other men and women of Nudist Beach are exercising as well. Sanageyama practices a few new attacks on Gamagoori with a bamboo sword. Gamagoori sustains the pain easily, as expected.

"I think I got it now. You ready, tough guy?" Sanageyama asks. Gamagoori nods.

"Always." the giant man answers and stands ready, like a shield, curious about Sanageyamas attack. Sanageyama starts by attacking multiple times from the left and right side, then continues to jump up and perform an over head attack, hitting Gamagoori's head. Gamagoori simply stands as if nothing happened. In general, he seems to be fairly unimpressed, Sanageyama however nods rather satisfied, as he knows that Gamagoori doesn't mind the pain.

"What do you think?" Sanageyama asks.

"More power from the left side. The jump attack is good. But the rest needs improvements." the big man answers. Sanageyama nods.

"You know, in Ôsaka we had a Dojo with lots of newcomers every month. Was pretty neat testing out new attacks on them. The place is awesome in general, not gonna lie, and they have a good sense of humor too." he reacts. Just as Sanageyama wants to perform a second attack, Gamagoori's eyes enlarge, and he jumps up scared and hurted.

"AHHH!" he screams and runs a few steps forward. Sanageyama makes huge eyes and watches how Gamagoori runs away until he's at the entrance of the gym. He looks at him confused.

"What's wrong with you, dude?" Sanageyama asks and grins.

"Something pricked me from behind!" he answers. Sanageyama looks to his left where Gamagoori stood and see's Nui. Well, her clone, to be exact. The clone watches both of them with an innocent look, but a little smile. A few of the other Nudist Beach soldiers look at the three of them. Sanageyama raises his eye brows.

"Well here's our troublemaker." he mentions and walks to the Doppelgänger.

"Clones like you aren't allowed to walk around in the base, you know that." the man says. The clone just looks at Sanageyama. It doesn't blink or does anything else, it just stands there and smiles a bit.

"Aight then." Sanageyama says and walks in front of the clone, blinking once and then looking into the clones eye.

Both Sanageyama and the clone start an intensive eye watching contest. Gamagoori walks to both contestants and watches them, switching between his friend and the clone. With an ice cold but cool look, Sanageyama watches the clone, while the clone just stands there, harmless and with a kind face expression. Whoever blinks first, loses. After a while, more and more Nudist Beach soldiers join the group and watch the two of them looking into each other. People start whispering in the background and wonder who has to blink first. Gamagoori blinks the entire time, every time he looks at the other one.

"Tough one, huh?" Sanageyama asks the clone. The clone just stands there. Slowly but steady, Sanageyama's eyes start to burn a bit, but he stays staunchly.

"How is that possible? The clone had to blink already!" Gamagoori comments confused and looks at the clone with big eyes. The clone smiles a bit more, seemingly finding it funny that Sanageyama puts so much effort into it. Sanageyama pinches his eyes a bit, but he does not give up.

"Gotta blink?" Sanageyama asks. The clone shakes it's head.

"Come on, Sanageyama!" someone says.

"You can do this!"

But eventually, Sanageyama has to blink and loses. Still, people applause him for enduring this so long. After that, they continue to do their own stuff again.

"Fuck, you're not bad." Sanageyama reacts. The clone smiles and then blinks.

"Thank you! You are funny!" the clone says amused.

"I'm not."

"I think you are! What cool things are you guys doing?!"

"Exercising." Gamagoori mentions.

"Wow, that is awesome! Can I exercise too?!" the clone asks curious and happily.

"Uhm... shouldn't you go back to your... mother, or creator, or whatever you call her?"

"Yes I should, but I am in trouble already so I might as well just hang around with you guys if you don't mind! Why is your hair green? Did you fell into a bucket of green color?" the clone asks curious. Sanageyama grins.

"What'cha thinking, Ira?"

"No clone is allowed to walk in this base. Lady Satsuki told us that!" Gamagoori answers cold.

"Come on, she seems to be alright."

"No!" he reacts. The clone pouts and looks at Gamagoori, pretending to be sad.

"Fun brake!" the clone answers. Gamagoori looks down to the clone.

"You know, lil clone, Gamagoori sometimes is a mean man, but he's right, you can't walk around here. How about this: we both go back to your creator. If Satsuki allows it later on, you can ask your creator if she can let you visit me, I could use a second person for some new combos. You down for that?" Sanageyama suggests. The clone jumps up happily.

"OH! YES! I'd love to! Are we going to kill someone?!" the clone asks curious.

"Uh, no, but you know, sometimes punching someone can be fun too. I think."

"Yeah, that's true!" the clone laughs.

"Alright, Ira, I'll bring back the clone real quick and then I'll come back." Sanageyama says. Gamagoori nods and sits onto a bench, taking a short break and drinking some water while the other two walk away...

At the same time, Ryuko and Senketsu visit Iori in the Research & Development facility of the base. Ryuko looks around. About a dozen of Nudist Beach soldiers work here, wearing researcher coats that make it easy to recognize them as such. Blueprint of weapons and armor, ammo, parts for enhanced DTRs and other stuff lay around, all on desks and tables made out of metal. Other than that there are also small little rooms to experiment with prototypes and there is even a little work bench for chemical experiments. Both friends see Iori working on a uniform in a light red. Maybe it's for Nonon? Iori watches Ryuko coming closer to him.

"Sup, Iori, you mind if I disturb you real quick? I could use your help." Ryuko mentions. Iori looks at Senketsu, then on Ryuko again.

"Your Kamui?"

"Mhm. Satsuki and Senketsu wanna know what he is made of and if he's alright. Not that it's a trap or anything." Ryuko answers. Iori puts away Nonon's armor and prepares some space on his desk.

"I can do that. Take it off." Iori says. Following up, Ryuko takes off Senketsu, still wearing a bra. It has the same colors like years ago, a blue one with white stripes. It still is a bit uncomfortable for her but then again, at Nudist Beach, everyone is naked, which means that no one really cares. Then, Ryuko sits down onto a chair and watches Iori work.

"Ah, I felt that!" Senketsu says as Iori carefully cuts him with a scissor to get access to certain life fibers.

"You won't hurt him, alright?"

"I can't promise that. But I'll do my best. Your Kamui is in good hands, I know what I am doing." Iori comforts her. Ryuko nods.

"So... you are here for a while already. Is it possible to ask for some goodies that could be delivered into the sleeping room?" Ryuko asks. Iori thinks briefly while working on Senketsu.

"Depends. What do you need?"

"A TV would be neat."

"We have TVs. I can tell a worker he should send one into your room."

"Cooleo." she answers and leans back. She still kinda thinks it's funny to know that Nui is locked in her room, and so she laughs again. Senketsu chuckles since he knows exactly why she's laughing. Iori looks at Ryuko with a confused face.

"What's wrong?" Iori asks.

"You heard about our new guest, right?"

"Harime?"

"Yeah. We locked her up in her own room, she didn't liked that." Ryuko laughs.

"Hehe. I'm waiting for the moment where she finds out who's responsible for the uniforms here."

"Prepare yourself to hear some dumb jokes."

"I know. I'm excited for it." he answers. Iori carefully draws out one of the fibers and investigates them. A few orange rays flow through them. He's fascinated by the look of it.

"Been some time since I worked on fresh life fibers, but this is interesting indeed. Your Kamui can talk with everyone. See the orange rays?" he asks and shows them Ryuko. Senketsu looks at the fiber Iori holds.

"Huh, that's how I look like from the inside?" Ryuko's friend mentions.

"If they wouldn't be there, he couldn't talk with anyone except you." he explains and stitches the fiber together again.

"He's pretty new apparently. There's no doubt about it that your Kamui was made by a master of his profession. Could be made by this Harime that owns Neo-REVOCS. Seems like Senketsu is not 100% done, I see a few missing fiber structures here and there. I do think however with some time it can develop and become very powerful. More powerful than before, although I don't think as powerful as his Kisaragi form, or Shinra Koketsu. You certainly stole something very valuable from them." Iori comments.

"Neat." she smiles. Iori nods and lets off from Senketsu. Then, he gives Senketsu back to Ryuko. She puts him on again.

"It's remarkable how happy you are. You really missed him, did you?"

"Yeah. I'm just glad he's here. I still don't get why I lost the fight against Nui though..."

"I assume you weren't used to him. With some time and practicing, I'm sure you can get stronger again. Your Kamui has a lot of hidden potential. I'm excited to see what it can do." Iori says.

"Sounds good. Thanks, Iori." she smiles.

"No problem, Ryuko. I'll make sure you get a TV in a few minutes." Iori promises. Ryuko nods grateful and walks away, while Iori continues working on the armor for Nonon.

[Soundtrack (right click to open in new tab)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZdbD2i2NV4&feature=emb_title)

Meanwhile, Sanageyama and the clone visit the command center where Tsumugu and Mikisugi are, while Satsuki and Houka have some small talk.

"Yo, I got one of Harime's clones, does anyone have an idea where this crazy maniac is hanging around?" Sanageyama asks.

"In your dorms. Next to Ryuko's room." Mikisugi answers. Sanageyama nods and continues walking to the dorms with the clone. He takes the keys to the room with him. The clone is happy to walk around with Sanageyama.

"You are pretty funny for a human!" the clone chuckles, looking up to Sanageyama.

"Thanks, I suppose. You are weird, but at least you don't rip off my clothes, that makes you more kind than your creator ever was." he grins. The clone chuckles.

"Miss Harime does that a lot! She thinks it's funny, just like everything else in life!" the clone answers.

"Really, she's laughing about everything?" he asks curious.

"Yup! Literally everything! It sometimes make her go completely crazy and... UH, FORGET ABOUT IT!" the clone grins and blushes. Sanageyama nods confused. They pass by Nonon who just went out of the hall to the dorms.

"Ah, would you look at that, a clone." Nonon grins. The clone smiles.

"Hey! Wow, you are really cute! I bet my mistress would kill you last! She likes cute humans more than other humans, but in the end, they are all stupid!" the clone grins. Nonon grins and nods.

"I mean yeah, if you say so, cutie." Nonon grins and walks away. That seems to be the deeply dark and disturbing humor the clones and Nui herself laugh about every day. Sanageyama and the clone enter the dorms. He looks surprised as he reaches Nui's door.

"A stop sign and wooden planks?!" Sanageyama reacts confused and raises his eye brows

"A stop sign and wooden planks?!" Sanageyama reacts confused and raises his eye brows. There's a note on the wooden planks.

"Don't open! Ryuko." he reads. Nui walks around in the room and goes to the other side of the door, knocking on it.

"Hey! Helloo-hooo!? Let me out! Please!" Nui says and chuckles.

"Yo, what's up, yarn ball?" Sanageyama asks grinning.

"Hey! Is that you? Aren't you the guy I made naked in front of the entire school?!" Nui asks, as she recognizes the voice.

"Gotta love Ryuko for that one." he mumbles grinning and walks to the clone who waits curiously.

"You don't want your mistress to get into trouble, right?" he asks the clone.

"My mistress never gets into trouble, she IS the trouble! That's how magnificent she is!" the clone answers smiling.

"Fair enough, but she can't go out yet."

"What?! Why!?" the clone asks confused and looks annoyed at Sanageyama.

"Because... because we are baking a cake for her at the moment, I just remembered that! That's why she can't go out and that's why there are these very robust and solid wooden planks you certainly can not rip off!" Sanageyama grins. The clone raises it's eye brow and looks surprised.

"Really?! You guys are doing that!? You are so kind!"

"I know. Alright, listen up, I can't bring you to your "mistress" yet BUT I can take care of you once I see her again. How does that sound?" Sanageyama asks. The clone thinks excited and seems to count something with it's fingers, even calculating something for whatever reason.

"What are you counting?" Sanageyama asks.

"Oh I'm not counting, I'm just making a few funny gestures so that you think I would think!"

"... makes sense. I think."

"Okay then! But please, please, please bring me back to my mistress as soon as you can!" the clone asks kindly and then shrinks and becomes lifeless. Sanageyama grabs the clone and looks at it. It really looks like a little puppet or plush now. Sanageyama puts the clone onto his belt and hides it behind his jacket.

"Who would've thought I'd have to do this shit?" Sanageyama asks himself loudly and walks away.

"Hey! You still here!?" Nui calls for Sanageyama...

The day passes. While Ryuko, Satsuki, Mikisugi and the rest of the group all eat in an own little canteen next to the command center, a few Nudist Beach soldiers try to give Nui Harime something to eat without accidentally letting her out, which they can barely manage. Around the late evening, about 9:55 PM, Ryuko and Senketsu go back to her sleeping room. There is a TV now. Ryuko jumps onto the bed and relaxes, looking around, just like Senketsu who is curious about the room. The wall next to the bed could be a nice place for Senketsu to hang on. Ryuko yawns.

"Well, that was a day that happened." Ryuko mentions.

"Yeah."

"I don't know where to start to be honest."

"Me neither. Well... so... how have you been, Ryuko? You really changed" Senketsu asks.

"Mhm... I'm okay I suppose. Got a job at a call center now, well, I probably lost it now but it was okay. And I'm living in dad's old mansion now. Satsuki renovated it from REVOCS money." Ryuko answers.

"That's nice... and how about Mako? You still doing some stuff with her?" he asks. Ryuko hesitates at first.

"... no, I'm not. I just hope Mako is alright. I haven't seen her in a long time. Ira Gamagoori sometimes talks with her, but I haven't seen her for years."

"Why's that?"

"... it's not possible. I'm not allowed to. That's all." she sighs.

"I'm sorry about that, Ryuko."

"Thanks." she answers slightly sad and looks around some more.

"And the others? You seem to be more serious and mature than before."

"Yeah... Satsuki owns REVOCS, well... she owned REVOCS. She wanted to attend school and live a normal life but that wasn't possible. There's something... something I gotta tell you."

[Soundtrack (right click to open in new tab)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTFqq7w4T0Q&feature=emb_title)

"I'm listening."

"About four years ago, some sort of sickness developed. It causes hallucinations and nightmares. The worst cases have to be brought into containment cells because they are a threat to others. A lot of people suffer from it. Satsuki and I too. We call it Life Fiber plague, or life fiber sickness. That's why Satsuki had to leave school and deal with REVOCS. She didn't wanted to lose the company and a possible way to produce a cure if people find a way for it."

"... that doesn't sound good." he says worried.

"Mhm. You have nightmares every night. Most of the time you see your friends or loved ones, you do some stuff with them and suddenly, everything stops. It's kind of like you would relive a memory and at some point, it just stops and turns into a nightmare. There is some kind of illusion that plagues you, it can be everything. Guilt, hate, rage, you name it. Whatever bothers you the most in life. And this illusion consumes you in the last moment of your nightmare before you wake up. And when you do wake up, you always feel uncomfortable." she explains.

"... and this sickness is going on for four years already...?" he asks worried.

"Yeah. Four years. Satsuki and I have it for four years as well. There is almost no day where I can't properly sleep. I sometimes drink some Energy or a coffee to tune myself up again. At least I got used to it and now I don't need as much sleep as back then, but... *sigh*"

"And what plagues you?"

"That I was never able to avenge dad. When it started, I thought it would have been just one or two nightmares, you know, nothing to worry about. But as they came more often and then on a regular base, they felt... real. I can remember the worst nightmare I have had. It was the one that probably made me start hating myself for never being able to kill dads murderer. It's the first nightmare where people died because of me.

Mako and I, we... we were on a meadow, playing a little snow ball battle during winter. On our way back home we saw how our village burned down. Everyone was panicking, dead or burning. I tried to save Mako's family but I couldn't. Her parents were nothing more than bones and ashes... and I lost Mataro on my way out. I only heard him dying. And when I went back to Mako to tell her what happened..." she explains and inhales, then exhales.

"...Nui Harime appeared and killed her. She ripped her apart as if she would have been nothing. She laughed into my face and tried to kill me, and that's where I woke up. After that, she appeared in my dreams every night. I see her every day so to speak. And whenever we meet each other, she is making fun of me, hurts others and eventually tries to kill me. If you have nightmares like these every night, it... kinda changes you. And yeah... at one point, I guess I kind of lost myself. I hate her. Harime... the nightmares... the guilt I feel... sometimes I see an hallucination of her too. Satsuki probably feels like that too."

"Ryuko..."

"... at one point I just wished I would have someone with me. I wasn't able to take that shit anymore. Satsuki and I, we try to spend as much time as we can but I have to work most of the time. I love her, she's my sister... but... even though she did change her personality, she still mostly is rather serious. I can't blame her for that. She was raised this way. That's why I was wishing every day I could see Mako or you again. You told me you would always watch me from the sun, but... I wanted to hear your voice. And someone I could hug." she says sad.

"... but you are not alone anymore. I am here. I don't know how and why... but I am here now. And Mako surely is somewhere outside there too. We'll find her sometime and when we do, we can have a great time together. You know... I missed you too. When I started to burn up, all I was thinking of was to protect you, and when it was over and everything became black... I saw white fibers. I was able to touch them and when I did, I saw memories. Somehow, it was beautiful and good, but... it also made me miss you." Senketsu explains. Ryuko nods.

"Satsuki, her friends and I am here for you whenever you need us." he says to comfort Ryuko. They can hear Nui and a few clones giggling in the room next to them, they are probably playing some games.

"... yeah and Harime is here too, sadly." he chuckles. Ryuko smiles briefly.

"I'm just glad to have you here."

"Me too." he answers. Someone knocks on the door. Ryuko stands up and opens the door. It's Satsuki.

"Hey, Satsuki." she smiles.

"Hello Ryuko. Senketsu." Satsuki answers and walks into the room. Ryuko puts her hands into the pockets.

"I don't want to disturb both of you. You haven't seen each other in a very long time after all. I was speaking with Mikisugi a few minutes ago. We decided to retrieve the scissor blades tomorrow. 9 AM is when we leave the base. We should be there at 4 PM then and if we are quick, we'll be home at about 1 AM again. I made sure we get a free day then."

"Already? Well... makes sense." Ryuko says.

"Mhm. Now that we have Senketsu... and Harime... we should retrieve the blades as soon as possible. Iori wrote down a few notes after he analyzed Senketsu and came to the conclusion that he might be able to help you to dive down up to the ground as you can synchronize with him well. And Senketsu can look around in the water without a problem if his theory is correct." Satsuki explains.

"Oh... okay."

"I know, Ryuko. That's all serious business and honestly, I don't like it either. But we can't lose time."

"No it's cool, Satsuki. I gotcha." she answers. Satsuki nods.

"Anyway... I don't want to disturb you now. Big sister is coming at a bad time, I guess." Satsuki grins slightly.

"Hehe, it's okay." Senketsu answers.

"Yeah, it's alright." Ryuko answers.

"Okay. In any case, Ryuko, you should take a shower. The fountain and the museum didn't do well to say the least. Relax a bit. I'm glad you are in a good mood, even if we have a second visitor. I never saw you more happy." Satsuki says smiling.

"Heh, thanks for the tip. Yeah... you know... having a friend is just a good feeling. Having Senketsu, I mean." Ryuko says.

"You own me? Am I an object?" Senketsu asks ironically.

"Of course, you're my object!" Ryuko chuckles. Satsuki pats Ryuko's shoulders.

"Good night, Ryuko. I hope you can sleep well tonight. You deserve that." Satsuki smiles genuine. Seeing her little sister so happy because of Senketsu warms up her otherwise rather cold heart.

"Good night, Sis." Ryuko says and hugs her briefly. Satsuki leaves the room. Ryuko hangs Senketsu on the wall and proceeds to take a shower which she leaves after ten minutes. Feeling good and clean, she comes back, puts on a nice red Pyjama and jumps into her bed, turning the TV on. Ryuko and Senketsu watch a bit, do some small talk and laugh about the comedy that is visible on the monitor. Around 11:20 PM, Ryuko nods off and starts sleeping. The TV still runs for a few more minutes until Senketsu decides to jump off the wall. He succeeds after a few attempts and tries to grab the remote control, hitting on the red POWER button. He manages to turn the TV off and jumps around satisfied, then tries to climb up onto his wall again. But since it's extremely difficult to reach the hook, he simply decides to climb onto Ryuko's bed and lays down next to her. Shortly after, Ryuko grabs Senketsu out of instinct and cuddles him slightly, but comfortable. Senketsu is happy about that which is very well visible thanks to his eye, and then he starts sleeping as well.

"Sweet dreams, Matoi..." Ichiro chuckles and stands up. He leaves the office and turns off the lights...

...

...

...

[Soundtrack (right click to open in new tab)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBIy2QBEar8&feature=emb_title)

A bell is ringing. Students leave their class rooms and leave the school. It's afternoon and school is finished for today. Ryuko and Mako leave their class room. They look like ordinary students now, holding some books onto their hands and looking outside. It's a normal japanese school with normal folk around here. Outside, the sun shines, and there is a little forest as well.

"So how was your exam?" Ryuko asks Mako curiously.

"Great! I didn't understood a single word but I think I did really good!" Mako grins. Ryuko chuckles and shakes her head.

"Alright then." she answers. Ryuko and Mako got used to the life here and visit the school for a few months already. It's pretty chill and relaxed out here and of course completely different than the Honnouji-Academy and Ryuko's old school, the so called "Masamune High". It was the place where she grouped up with a gang. Thank god this life is over now, she thinks. Ryuko and Mako leave the school building and enter the yard which looks really nice, with flowers and a few benches to sit on. Tables are also outside, and some students are eating right now.

"Did you knew there is a cinema here, Ryuko-chan?!" Mako asks curious.

"I'm not a big fan of cinemas, to be honest."

"You're not!?"

"Nah. I was in one, once. Ended up having a fight with others, and I was prohibited to visit it. The others as well by the way." Ryuko grins.

"Okay! We'll visit it anyway! I never was in a cinema!" Mako laughs.

"I mean, a cinema is sick, not gonna lie, but you got weirdos everywhere that do their own thing. Some even sleep there. Completely lost if you ask me."

"I want to sleep there too! The seats are comfortable probably." Mako says. Ryuko pinches her eyes.

"If you want to." Ryuko grins. Mako nods. They walk to the next bus stop and sit down on a bench, taking out their lunch boxes. Ryuko takes out an apple, and Mako has a few croquettes. What else, of course.

"So what do you want to watch in the cinema?" Ryuko asks.

"Oh, I don't know. I just want to watch something! All I want is to visit a cinema, Mataro never wants to though."

"Okay... I guess I can make an exception and we can visit one. Been a while anyway and I bet it's cool with a friend or two."

"Yes! Everything is better if you are together! That's why we are friends! Because being alone is boring and sad."

"Being alone is boring and sad... yeah... you got a point." Ryuko mumbles. Mako looks around. It really is a beautiful summer day. There is a little rabbit in the bushes on the other side of the street, watching them eat. Mako has a big smile as she see's the rabbit, and Ryuko has to chuckle. A few birds are chirping.

"Alright, once we are home, I'll visit the internet cafe nearby and take a look at what's running in the cinema, okay?" Ryuko suggests smiling. Mako's eyes enlarge and shine.

"YES!" she says happily and hugs Ryuko. Ryuko giggles. Shortly after, the bus arrives, Ryuko and Mako enter it. They continue to work on thier homework a bit so that they don't have to deal with it at home later on. And then, they relax for a while, looking outside. There is a nice view onto a huge forest and a little hill with a few temples on it, and far in the background, they can see one or two skyscrapers from the nearby city.

So this is the life after the Honnouji-Academy. A normal life as student in an urban, postapocalyptic Japan. It's more quiet than one might expect at first, but it's nice. Nicer than everything else what Ryuko lived through. She doesn't even think about it. All of this is over. The fights in school. The countless battles against Satsuki, the four deva and of course Nui Harime and Ragyo Kiryuin... this is finally over now.

"Did you heard something from your sister again, Ryuko?" Mako asks with a open mouth.

"Mhm. She tried to visit school again but she had to go to REVOCS. Strange enough that she didn't really told me why. She only said that there was some crazy incident with some sickness and the government itself went to her to talk with her. Since then, she's at REVOCS."

"Oooohh, okay! What is REVOCS again?" Mako asks. Ryuko grins.

"A pretty weird organization that was rendered inactive for a while, they made some really cheap clothes and the person that was responsible for them, nuh uh, weird as fuck, seriously." Ryuko grins.

"Oh. Why does she work there again?" Mako asks. Ryuko laughs.

"Mako, what would I do without you?"

"I don't know. Does that matter?" Mako asks. Ryuko looks out of the window again and looks at the sun. Senketu probably smiles at them right now. That's why Ryuko smiles back. There is also a silhouette on the horizon, and it holds blade and a parasol. Ryuko takes a closer look.

[Soundtrack (right click to open in new tab)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOUjMnPAUOs&feature=emb_title)

"Ryuko?" Mako asks confused. Suddenly, time slows down and eventually stops, but Ryuko can perfectly move still. The silhouette comes closer, and fast. It's Nui Harime, with her black arms. Ryuko's eyes enlarge and she falls back. Ryuko watches how Nui grows taller and taller until she is a giant, ripping off the roof of the bus. With an obsessed smile she looks down at her.

"Weird as fuck you say?" Nui asks grinning and leans her head towards Ryuko until they almost touch her. Ryuko is like an ant compared to Nui.

"FUCK OFF!" Ryuko screams angry.

"Kind of funny if you think about it. The Kamui won't save you, sweetheart! Trying to leave everything behind but a lil pile of worthless clothes that forgot it's place at the life fibers."

"At least he didn't forgot his heart and soul, unlike you, you stupid bitch!" Ryuko counters. Nui laughs.

"He's not just a Kamui, he's also a friend!" she says and touches the wall with her back. Nui shrinks and lands in the bus hall where she walks towards Ryuko, stopping at Mako. She pats her hair.

"I bet you miss her too, don't you?"

"Why would you care?!" Ryuko asks. Nui suddenly materializes a scissor blade and throws it next to Ryuko's head. The blade almost hit her, it cut off a few streaks. The second part of the blade Nui materialized is used as a tool to lean her arms on. She looks into Ryuko's face.

"I bet you feel invincible because of this "Senketsu" boy. Even more if you got your little Mako too!"

"Piss off! You're fucking dead and you still annoy me! Let me have ONE fucking normal dream for fuck sake!"

"Awww, are you angry at me? Darling, you'll never lose me anymore, I'm part of you, just like Satsuki, Mako and your other weird friends. And me being alive again means that we can have fun even when you're not taking your beauty sleep." Nui smiles.

"Shut it." Ryuko answers. Nui giggles and grabs the blades.

"You know, Ryuko... since you really are a poor little thing and because you love me so much, maybe I'll let you sleep in peace just once." Nui suggests and plays around with the blades. Suddenly, she performs a slash attack towards Mako but stops it in the last moment.

"NO! DON'T." Ryuko says. Nui holds the blades at Mako's neck and then turns her head towards Ryuko.

"Just this once, sweety. Au revoir." Nui says and dissolves into life fibers that rise up into the air and vanish. Time continues again. Mako looks around confused and notices that the bus roof is gone.

"Huuh!? How is that possible!? Imagine it would start raining now!" Mako mentions. Ryuko takes a breath and stands up, walking to Mako.

"Ryuko, what happened, you..."

"Oh god, Mako."

"Ryuko, what..." Mako mumbles worried, seeing her friend scared. The bus continues to drive even with the lack of a roof, and when both friends come back home, Ryuko feels uncomfortable. She looks around the entire time to see if Nui is somewhere. The young woman can't say if this is a sick game made by Nui Harime or if Nui actually said the truth. Suddenly, Ryuko hears a voice.

"Hey! Hello?" she hears and wakes up. Senketsu woke her up. She notices that she cuddles him actually. Senketsu looks at Ryuko worried.

"Are you alright?" her cloth friend asks.

"I... I had a nightmare... that's this fucking sickness." Ryuko answers.

"I'm sorry, Ryuko."

"It's okay... I'm used to it, and it wasn't as bad as before." Ryuko says.

"That's good. Let's try to sleep again. I'm here if you need me." Senketsu says. They both continue to sleep again.

The next day begins. It's 7:22 AM. Satsuki leaves her room. The CEO of REVOCS wears her white suit, as usual. She visits Ryuko's room and opens it slightly to see if everything is alright. Ryuko still sleeps with Senketsu, although Senketsu is awake and looks at Satsuki, waving towards her with one sleeve. Satsuki smiles and moves on, looking for the others. Sanageyama seems to make some exercises, Nonon plays some quiet music, but Houka and Gamagoori seem to sleep. As for Nui, she seems to hear a clone telling some jokes, but apparently only to itself. Eventually, Satsuki leaves the dorms and enters the canteen. Briefly after, the others wake up and visit the canteen as well. The mood is nice and everyone gets something to eat. Satsuki and Nonon have a little conversation, while Ryuko and Mikisugi talk to each other as well. Sanageyama, Houka and Gamagoori investigate the little clone Sanageyama got. They're fascinated about such a little thing being so full of life somehow, especially Houka who writes down a few notes to collect data, of course.

"Are you still struggling with that guy?" Satsuki asks curious. Nonon shakes her head.

"Nah. Actually, I'm glad I'm not in a relationship anymore. Just gives you a feeling of liberty. And if I wanna talk with some men, I'll just invite our favourite monkey or the computer freak." Nonon grins. Satsuki chuckles.

"Heh... I sometimes ask myself if I am one of those people that could even have a relationship, you know?" Satsuki says.

"I think you could have a relationship if you ask me. Sooner or later, you'll find someone, don't worry about it. Yeah, people hate you because of auntie Ragyo, but that's totally stupid, you didn't do anything. It's the contrary actually." Nonon says. Satsuki sips some tea. Still bad.

"And yet everyone hates me. Because of my name, Kiryuin? Because I am the CEO of REVOCS? Or is it both?" she asks.

"I think these are all idiots. You're not like auntie Ragyo, don't let that sink into you. You ain't the problem. It's only your mum."

"That easier said than done, you know? Back then... we had an entire army. They didn't ask what our plans were, they simply did it. A few motivational but cold words here and there, a reward and people did what we wanted. If you wanted to remove someone from school with force, you only had to point your finger at them, hell, you could have just attacked them and no one would have cared because of Honnouji's old school system. All the workers I have only work because they need the money - they think I'll become a second Ragyo. I feel stupid whenever I have to hold one of those annual speeches." Satsuki explains.

"Yeah of course you do. People think you're evil because you have Kiryuin as your name, but that's stupid. Hell, my dad was a damn mine worker, that doesn't make me one though. Never think you are evil because of your heritage, because you are not. Look at the Nudist Beach clowns. They like you... well okay, they are all naked weirdos and that's totally overkill, I mean, we've been there too, but who can say they have an entire organization of naked men and women on your side?" Nonon grins. Satsuki chuckles about that thought.

"Better than nothing, you say?"

"Better than nothing." Nonon answers. Ryuko and Mikisugi start laughing. And the three male four deva touch the clone's hair and are fascinated. It feels soft apparently. Tsumugu enters the room, annoyed, with Nui Harime behind him. She has handcuffs on.

"Satsuki, you have to visit the Arsenal first before visiting Tokyo, Iori wants to talk with you. We got a speedboat ready there by the way, once you arrive, a few soldiers will catch up with you." Tsumugu explains. Satsuki nods. Nui sits onto a chair and leans back, putting her feets on the table and lays them down like a cross so that no one is able to look under her dress. Well, she wouldn't mind it anyway probably. She looks at Ryuko.

"Heyyyy, Ryuko! You look great today! Your prank yesterday was really amazing, I'm super surprised!" Nui grins.

"Thanks, annoy someone else now." Ryuko counters and talks with Mikisugi again. Nui watches Sanageyama walking to her, holding her clone. She smiles at him. He however is a bit annoyed by her.

"Here. Your clone was running around in the base yesterday." Sanageyama says and carefully pushes the clone to Nui. He has some respect towards her now although he dislikes her of course. Nui free's herself from the handcuffs and takes the clone. The Nudist Beach soldiers and Tsumugu are surprised, but apparently, Harime doesn't want to attack someone at the moment. She puts her clone away.

"Why thank you, darling." Nui grins. Sanageyama sits back to the other two men and talks with them. Satsuki watches Nui and vice versa.

"Sooo, dearest Satsuki, how's it looking, we gonna annoy some people today? Can we kill someone? Sharing is caring after all! I got a few cool ideas, wanna hear?" Nui grins.

"No." Satsuki answers.

"Nwaa..."

"It's almost 8:30 AM, Harime. Take something from the buffet and eat, I don't want anyone to say we aren't good hosts." Satsuki says calm. Ryuko is amazed about how calm Satsuki is regarding Nui. Nui nods, jumps up and takes a plate, taking a look at the buffet. It's the usual stuff you could eat, nothing unusual. However, Nui seems to be picky, as she takes a look at everything.

"Seriously? No fish!?" Harime asks wondered and takes some vegetables. Tsumugu closes his arms and watches Nui. She walks back to the table and starts eating. Pretty quick too, as it only takes her about two minutes and she is done, which confuses Satsuki and Tsumugu slightly. Nui is unimpressed, but she smiles slightly and keeps her mouth shut thankfully.

At 8:45 AM, Ryuko, Satsuki and Nui visit the arsenal where Iori waits for Satsuki already. Ryuko keeps an eye on Nui who however just looks around curiously and touches things that thankfully won't explode immedieately or otherwise deal damage.

"Lady Satsuki, I did adjusted the Wrath regalia and inserted a basic transformation system. Since I know you like your clothing style and want to keep it but also want to be prepared for a possible fight, I made a copy of your suit and stitched it into the Wrath regalia. Explaining the entire process would take time you do not have at the moment, the important thing however is that your suit works like a Goku-Uniform now. By pulling off one of the blue stripes on the left or right sleeve you can press down a needle that causes you to transform into your combat uniform. If you wish to change back into your civilian uniform, pull off the blue stripe under the shoulder armor and move the needle up again." Iori explains and gives Satsuki the suit version of the Wrath regalia.

"Thank you, Iori." Satsuki answers satisfied and changes her clothes quickly. Under her suit she wears a white shirt which fits Satsuki really well and surely would fit even better during summer time. During winter it's different of course, but then again, her suit keeps her warm and so this isn't a huge problem. Nui walks to Iori.

"So you're the local tailor here, yes?" Nui grins curious. Iori looks at Nui and takes a brief look at her, calm, but bored.

"I am." Iori answers calm. Now Nui looks at him and even raises his orange mask briefly.

"You look funny."

"So do you."

"Show me what you work on!"

"I won't."

"Why not?" Nui asks curious.

"I don't have to prove you anything." Iori answers.

"You are only scared that I can tailor better clothes than you, which is true, but hey, you gotta give the others a chance, right?" Nui laughs.

"Which is why I won't show you them. Otherwise, you'd feel inferior." Iori answers and smiles mischievous. Nui smiles evil.

"Not bad, little guy. Not bad." she answers and pats his head. Ryuko grabs Nui's arm and forces her to follow her and Satsuki outside of the arsenal. They leave the base. Their first target is the base of Nui Harime, where Hoomaru is located and working right now. Satsuki wants to talk with her briefly. Driving to said base doesn't take too long, about two hours. Apart from a few dumb jokes Nui delivers, not much interesting happens. Nui leads Satsuki to the base. Arriving at it, they find a huge entrance. Hoomaru knew they would appear as Nudist Beach send her a message via radio, which is why she stands at the entrance, waiting for the three of them to arrive. The car Satsuki and the other two use is a civilian transporter but with Nudist Beach interior in case they need to communicate quickly. Satsuki, Ryuko and Nui leave the car. While Nui just sits on the car and watches a few clones play around, Ryuko sits on a bench and leans back, talking with Senketsu. Satsuki approaches Hoomaru.

"Lady Satsuki. You are alive and well, I see." Hoomaru says relieved.

"Yes. What about you? Are you alright, Hoomaru?" Satsuki asks curious.

"Could be better. Harime keeps me up all night. Did Soroi send my message?" Hoomaru asks curious.

"Soroi is dead." Satsuki answers calm, although Hoomaru can still hear out the sadness.

"... what?"

"This man, Ichiro Harime, he killed him. He exploded right in front of me."

"... I apologize for that."

"It's okay." she says and sighes.

"You wanted to talk with me, Lady Satsuki." Hoomaru mentions. Satsuki nods and walks with her to Ryuko.

"Hoomaru, Harime trusts you, doesn't she?" Satsuki asks.

"Trust is a word that can be intensely stretched when it comes to her, but she does speak a lot with me, yes, and she wouldn't kill me if I say something against her."

"We'll be back soon. There is a room for you in the Nudist Beach HQ. Can I expect from you that you can keep an eye on Harime and control or keep her down when we are back? She didn't do much at the moment but I am afraid she might."

"You can't control Harime, neither can you keep her down, you should know that, Lady Satsuki. You can only tell her to not do a certain thing because it would end bad. Although she does behave a bit different than five years ago, but I'm not completely sure why, at least not now. I'm trying to find it out though."

"Behaving different? Should we be worried about her?"

"No, it's alright, actually, it's the contrary... I think it's a character change we could use to our advantage. I noticed Harime always hides under her duvet and appears shocked or paralyzed whenever she wakes up. The fact she always has a clone with her that seemingly protects her is also very untypical for her. I know you and Harime very long, and while I do not know a lot about you, I know pretty much everything there is to know about her. After all, I worked for her. She is less chaotic than before, that's for sure. I'm going to investigate this furthermore." Hoomaru explains.

"Good. Do not waste too much time on her though. Once we finish off this Ichiro, we'll deal with her anyway."

"I see." Hoomaru says. Ryuko listens to both of them the entire time already.

"There are still two things I need to say, Lady Satsuki."

"Yes?"

"The base here offers a great insight onto the security systems of Neo-REVOCS. I haven't been locked out yet, and I'm trying to send data to Nudist Beach once I reached the core of the system."

"That's good. I didn't knew this base existed at all."

"Can't blame you on that. It wasn't used for a long time and when it was used, then mainly for experiments. We produced the Standard Fiber Rifles here. A little attempt on hopping onto the weapon industry. It was a reaction against Nudist Beach constantly attacking REVOCS, that's why we did try other stuff every once in a while. There was also a factory that worked on cars but it was rendered inactive pretty soon." Hoomaru continues to explain. Satsuki nods.

"Interesting, good to know."

"The other thing is this... as I said, Harime does behave different. You should watch her whenever she wakes up. She constantly talks about this Ichiro Harime and about something like a "beyond" or "exile." And when she does, she... she doesn't sound like Nui, but... more like the..." Hoomaru mumbles. Satsuki is shocked and her eyes enlarge. Something rings the alarm bells.

"Harime chose her fate by killing her first human, Hoomaru, there is no need to try and have any hope, leave it with that." Satsuki orders steadily. Hoomaru nods.

"... as you wish." Hoomaru answers.

"Satsuki, we should go now, unless you wanna get back to the base at 3 AM." Ryuko mentions and stands up. Satsuki nods.

"You are right. Hoomaru, we'll see each other again. Stay safe." Satsuki smiles. Hoomaru nods. Ryuko, Satsuki and Nui enter the car, although Nui waves her hands to Hoomaru and shows her tongue before leaving. Hoomaru walks back into the base and thinks about Satsuki's words, but she can't really follow her order. After all these years, she finally learned to think for herself as well. And that's a good thing. Satsuki turns on the radio to hear the news while they are driving. They are in a little forest right now and head for the coast as it's the fastest way to Tokyo.

[Soundtrack (right click to open in new tab)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwYc9j48xgs&feature=emb_title)

"...the automatic news system of the Prefecture of Nara. First message: The CEO of Neo-REVOCS, namely Ichiro Harime, is about to hold a speech regarding the plans and the future of the corporation. The speech will be broadcasted now." the three can hear via the robotic voice. Satsuki turns up the radio. Ryuko and Satsuki are somehow interested, while Nui is annoyed.

Several dozens of journalists and freelancers of various press agencies in and around Japan meet up in the Audituorium of Neo-REVOCS. Banner of Neo-REVOCS hang around everywhere, guards keep an eye on the people and Masaru prepares the podium. Years ago, the room was rather dark, and the only light that shined through was the one on the podium, with rainbow colors everywhere to glorify Ragyo Kiryuin. Today, the room is white, with a red ground, and plants everywhere. Wonderful lights hang on the ceiling and the walls.

And then, a huge light appears from the podium entrance, and steps are audible. Loud, and sharp ones. Ichiro Harime appears and leaves the entrance. He wears a pink shirt and yellow trousers. They do fit him well. His hair looks a bit more proper too now and less curly. He seems to have changed according to the current situation. People become quiet and Ichiro starts talking, while Masaru stays in the background, looking down to the countless people that look up at him and Ichiro. Both Neo-REVOCS bosses stand on the podium. Light's on. Ichiro starts smiling.

"Heh..."

"I'll ask you one thing." he says calm.

"What is clothing?"

Silence.

"These were Ragyo Kiryuin's words once, as some probably know. Gross and despicable, I know. But apparently we have to ask this question even nowaydays which appears as a cruel joke to me." Ichiro explains and smiles mischievous. Journalists talk quiet in the background.

"Weren't it the deeds of the Kiryuin family that made the world the horrible place it is today? A world where one fifth of the population suffers from an sickness, caused by nothing else than some cheap clothes? The Kiryuin family was the root of all evil, and now it's gone. What is left of it? A group of terrorists that call themselves "COVERS-sympathizers", attacking not just REVOCS buildings, no, everything. This is their legacy. A sickness, and terrorism. A tragic loss? Honestly: Not at all. They weren't worth the air they breathed in, neither the CEO, nor it's daughter and foster child. Cynical said, we shouldn't give a single fuck about them." Ichiro grins. The people start getting louder, they are surprised that he uses curse words and appears so directly.

"He's right!"

"A bit over the top, but he says the truth!"

"True that!"

"Yes... exactly. What I am trying to tell everyone by that is that we from Neo-REVOCS share the same opinion like every normal human. We all agree that the Kiryuin's had to vanish to give this infamous yet full of potential filled company a revival. This is a chance for a new beginning, for a second try, and this is what Neo-REVOCS wants to symbolize. Better, stronger, more effective. My name is Ichiro Harime, and I will make sure we won't repeat the mistakes of our predecessors. And in order to emphasize on this new beginning, the corporation will take hands onto the Life fiber sickness and the COVERS-sympathizers. We are aware of our past, and we will wipe it out until there is nothing left. And then, we will shape a new future, from humans, for humans." Ichiro explains. People agree with him.

...

...

...

"Shut off the radio, Satsuki, I don't want to hear this piece of shit talking anymore." Ryuko says.

"Ryuko is right, sadly, turn it off." Nui says. Satsuki turns the radio off and grumbles annoyed. Ryuko notices how angry Satsuki is right now.

"This asshole pisses me off. I thought he'd get flak all over the place now but they fucking agree with him!"

"I know, Ryuko. He annoys me as well..." Satsuki mentions quiet and continues driving to the bay of Tokyo...


End file.
